


The Last Straw

by wontcachme



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Abandonment, Anniversary, Birthday, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Kara has had enough, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Loneliness, Secret Relationship, SuperCorp, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-07-05 01:43:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 85,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15853662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wontcachme/pseuds/wontcachme
Summary: Kara has had enough. Her friends and family only care about Supergirl and everyone has forgotten about the person underneath. After a particular bad month Kara is ready to move on.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Some events are from the show, but the timing and order are different. Some things are exaggerated or just made up.





	1. Leaving it all behind

**Author's Note:**

> \- This is my first fic so please be gentle.  
> \- English is not my first language so I will already give my excuses for bad spelling, wrong usage of words or weird sentence constructions.  
> \- I don't know how often i update. I have a few chapters finished, but i keep rewriting things because i get ideas in later chapters that i want to incorporate. I am guessing once per two/three weeks probably.

“Hey Lee. You are sure you want to do this?” Kara asked while she grabbed a dress and packed it in her suitcase.  
  
“Yes Kar, I am sure I want to do this.” Lena sighed after being asked for the third time in an hour.  “We both need a break from our lives and a vacation is just what we need. Sam is more than capable to run L-Corp on my behave and in case it is needed I gave her an secure phone which she can use to reach us.”  
  
Kara started tugging het sleeve out of nerves and said with a sad smile “I know, but I am still anxious about it. And I’m a bit afraid of what my ‘friends’ and ‘family’ will do when they find out. Although given recent history they might not even notice.”  
  
Lena walks around the bed towards Kara and gives her a hug while rubbing her hand soothingly over Kara’s back. She thinks about the last months and how hurt her girlfriend has been by her friends and family. She doesn’t really care about any of them since she has never really met them, but she has seen the hurt, the pain and sadness on Kara’s face and held her when Kara cried. Lena never really had a family or loved ones and had learned to deal with being mostly alone. She once had a few friends, but almost all dropped her after Lex and Lillian’s crimes came out. She didn’t like being alone, but had learned to cope with it. However Kara craved family and friends since her time in the phantom zone and the loss of her planet and family. It all came to a head three weeks ago and since then things have changed for the better. After months of problems, three weeks ago Kara decided to move on and be happy again. Starting with a much needed vacation, for the both of them, to let go of all the stress, the problems and to figure out what they want to do next.  
  
“I know darling, but that is their problem. They really hurt you, but you are allowed to do things for yourself. They don’t own you. We are going to take a nice vacation, relax and think about the future. If they need help they can call your cousin.”  
  
“I know, I know. And with the video I left they should have an explanation, but I am afraid that that won’t stop Alex or the DEO from trying to track me down. Although now it will be more difficult for them since I found the secret tracker they implanted in my shoulder.”  
  
“What did you do with the it anyway?”  
  
“I left it somewhere where they will have a nice surprise when they find it.” Kara said mysteriously and with a little smile.  
  
Lena released Kara from her hug, gave a quick kiss and walked back towards her closet to grab some more clothing. As she looked through the closet she thought of something.  
  
“Oh, on a more positive note. Did you pack the red sun bracelet?”  
  
Kara gasped with a fake outrage and a smirk on her face. “How dare you think I forget the bracelet Lee. It will be just us, nature, a private island and all the silence in the world. We both know we will needing the bracelet the coming weeks. I have a feeling the beach and the bracelet will be a good combination,” Kara said with a wink.  
  
“Well, now I definitely want to go on this vacation,” Lena smirked.  
  
Both started walking around the penthouse and looking around to see if they got everything that they need for their vacation. They grabbed a few more items, put them in the suitcase and closed it.  
  
“It looks like we got everything. Are you going to go to your apartment to get the rest of your stuff before we go?”  
  
“Yeah. There is not much there anymore. All the furniture is already in the storage unit I rented last week. Only a few paintings left and some clothing. It’s already packed and ready to be transported here. Also I’m going to have a walkthrough with the landlord and see if I can get some of my security deposit back.”  
  
“Do you think you will get it all back?”  
  
Kara shrugges her shoulders . “Probably not. There is not much damage, but the locks need to be changed since I don’t have all the key’s anymore. But, that doesn’t really matter since I can’t wait to live here with you officially. I know I have been staying here almost every day for a two months already, but with my place gone it’s going to be real.”  
  
Lena looked at Kara and nodded with a big smile. “I know. And I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.” Lena then leaned in and gave a quick kiss.  
  
“By the way Lee, can I borrow your car and driver to get the last stuff from my place? It will be easier to get the paintings and suitcase in your car then a cab.”  
  
“Sure. No problem. I’m not going anywhere anyways. And while you’re going to your place, perhaps you can make a small detour on the way there? The coffee shop in your neighborhood has a new batch of Brazilian coffee and they have donuts. I know Jason likes that brand of coffee and as most drivers he likes his donuts. While you are getting your stuff he has something to drink and snack on.“  
  
“Okay. Might as well buy some for me for during the drive back then. You know, since I also like donuts. Preferably by the dozen.” Kara said with a smirk while wiggling her eyebrows. At the same time she moves away from Lena and grabs the keys that are laying on the side table. After pocketing the keys she walks to the door to get to the elevator.  
  
“Oh I know, the donut shops around L-Corp love you for it. See you soon Kar. Love you.”  
  
“Love you to Lee. See you really soon.” Kara says as she closed the door behind her.  
   
  
\------------------------------- 2 hours later -------------------------------  
  
Okay, this is taking really long. Where is Kara. Lena thought and decided to text her girlfriend.  
  
Me:    Kar, where are you? Not going good?  
MyGF:    It’s all done Lee. It took a bit longer because I helped the landlord change the locks. Got more of the deposit back this way. We are just driving away.  
Me:    Okay. No problem. See you in a half an hour then.  
MyGF:    See you soon Lee.  
  
\------------------------------- 25 minutes later -------------------------------  
  
“Hey Lee, I’m here and ready to go” Kara shouted as she walked in through the front door of the penthouse carrying the paintings and a suitcase.  
  
“Okay Kar.” Lena called from the bedroom. “You can place the paintings and the suitcase in my office while we are away. Do you need anything from the suitcase?”  
  
Kara walked towards the office an placed the paintings and suitcase down on the ground as she answered Lena’s question.  
  
“No, it’s only winter clothing that is in that suitcase. absolutely not needed for our holiday.”  
  
After setting the paintings and suitcases down she walked toward a normal looking painting on the wall and moved it to the side. Hidden behind it was a wall safe. She entered the security code (706f74737469636b65727361726574686562657374) and scanned her fingerprint. After they were validated she opened the safe door and grabbed a device about the size of an old flip phone. As she closed the door and moved the painting back, she heard Lena talking to her.  
   
“Great. All the doors and windows are locked. The doorman knows no one will be here for some time. You got the device?”  
  
“Yes, just grabbed it.”  
  
They both walked back towards the living room where the suitcases and bags were waiting for them. Kara aimed the device at an open part of the living room and started it up. After a few seconds a breach opened in the middle of the living room.  
  
“Damn. Every time I see a breach I still expect a Goa’uld to walk out of there” Lena proclaimed as she was still impressed by the technology used in the interdimensional extrapolator.  
  
“Well Lee, that is because your just a big geek.” Kara said while laughing and looking at her pouting girlfriend. Kara grabbed Lena’s hand as they started walking towards the breach. ”But then again, so am I. So in the words of Bilbo Baggins: We’re going on an adventure!”  
  
They grabbed their bags, walked into the breach and a few seconds later they arrived at their destination. They stepped out of the breach into a white room where they were met by a guy in a red suit.  
  
“Hello Kara and Lena. Welcome to earth 1.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Hidden mission: If someone has an idea what the hidden meaning is behind the security code, post your answer in the comments. Good Luck.
> 
> \- Later chapters will be larger and probably written better. First needed to build up some experience.


	2. Earth 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not two weeks till the next one, but 1 day this time. This is a small filler-ish chapter so i didn't want to wait to long. The next one will be more plot heavy.

Kara dropped the bags on the ground and flew forward to give Barry a unexpected big hug. “It is so good to see you Barry, “ she murmured. After about ten seconds Kara let him go so Lena could also give him a hug.  
  
“Damn Kara, it looks like you missed me. It’s only been a month since we had dinner with you and your misses” Barry said with a smirk.    
  
“I know I know, but things in my private life have been hard lately and I could use a good friend hug every now and then.” Kara said with a sad smile. ”But I don’t want to talk about that right now. I’m not going to ruin my mood when I’m on my first vacation in years. How is it going on this earth?”  
  
Barry and Lena exchange a quick look when Kara spoke about her problems and Lena made a sign that Barry should just let it go for now. Barry understood what Lena was signaling and quickly answered Kara.  
  
“You know, same old same old. It starts to feel like there is a new meta problem every week, but for some reason they seem to leave the summer and holidays problem free. Crime and accidents are also at an all-time low. It is actually really calm at the moment, so we make the most of it.”  
  
“Looks like another similarity between our worlds. My world has the same schedule, although I won’t complain about that. It has been busy enough the last months. “Kara said and her smile lessened a bit.  “So, how are Star Labs crew? Also taking a holiday?”  
  
“No, they are picking up their personal pet projects at the moment. They take a vacation later in the summer. Although they might just stick around here. None of us are the vacation type of people and we just like to tinker on our own projects when we are free.”  
  
Barry thought for a moment and suddenly remembered something he wanted to say to Kara before she moved to their vacation home.   
  
“Oh, before I forget. Remember our anti Kryptonite conversation a few weeks back? “Kara noddes at this. ”We have now figured out two ways to help you with the Kryptonite problem. Not just the one anymore that I told you about. The Kryptonite, the artificial Kryptonite, the sample of red Kryptonite and your blood sample gave us enough ideas to work with and to test our solutions. We have the technological solution that Cisco developed and now also a medical solution that Caitlyn made. Cisco’s solution is ready and Caitlyn’s solution is almost finished. That one will be a last resort option, but it should be done soon. And it won’t just work against Kryptonite. There are more things it can do. Both of them think their solutions help against all types of kryptonite, but that is something we can’t test without other samples.” Barry rambled.   
  
Kara flew forward again and gave Barry another big hug. “Oh my Rao, Barry. That is great. For a substance that is supposed to be difficult to find there sure is a lot of it going around these days. Thank you guys so much. If you ever need help with anything, let me know and I’ll be there.”  
  
“Thank you Kara. They are still doing some testing and enhancing, but it should be ready when you go back to your earth. Cisco is also making you a completely new super suit with some added gadgets and functions. It should be ready as well when you go back home and then we they will explain what they have done.”  
  
“Awesome. And if you decide to lose the skirt, I won’t mind that at all. The skirt was fun, but I want to look a bit more grown up from now on.” Kara said with a smile.  
  
“No problem. I think he was already going with that, but I’ll make sure he knows. More pressing is that the two of you need to get going. You have a private island that awaits you. Oliver had it packed to the rafters with food and there should be no one else on the island so you can use that red sun bracelet without any problems.” Barry said with a smirk and gave a wink towards the couple who both started to blush profusely.   
  
Barry walked towards a table to grab a GPS device and gave it to Kara.  
  
“The location of the island and the house have already been entered in. With a speed that Lena can handle you should be able to get there in about 30 minutes. I’ll run your suitcases towards the other location that has been entered so you don’t have to fly all the way back to get them.” Barry started moving away from Kara and walked towards their suitcases as he said. “Have fun you guys and don’t forget to use protection. Your much too young to have children.” Straight after saying this Barry grabbed the first of the suitcases and ran away from the speechless kryptonian and an equally speechless Lena.  
  
“Well Lee, I think that’s the signal for us to leave. I’ll take it easy so we can also see some of the views while were are underway.”  
  
“Okay. Just don’t drop me. Also not in the ocean please. I know you and I don’t want to do a cannonball just yet. Maybe in a few days.” Lena said while sticking out her tong teasingly.  
  
Suddenly Kara grabbed Lena and lifted her up so she ended up being carried bridal style in Kara’s arms. Kara gave a little chuckle at Lena’s surprised face as she carried Lena to the enclosed garden. “Hold on tight Lee. We’re going to take off now.” Kara warned as she took off from the ground towards the island.   
  
\------------------------------- 60 minutes later -------------------------------  
  
Lena had been walking around on the island and was exploring the forest and beaches while Kara was flying back and forth to the mainland to get the suitcases. It was an island of about 4 square kilometers with all white beaches, a small tropical forest containing palm trees, coconut trees and tropical fruits. The house was a modern building with black marble floors, white walls, large windows, decking all around and an infinity pool. The master bedroom had a spectacular view looking out over the sea.    
  
Lena was still walking around when Kara landed with the last of the suitcases. She set the suitcases down and walked to Lena.   
  
“Oh my god, Kara. This island is perfect. The views are amazing and there is so much fresh fruit to eat. We must send a thank you gift to Oliver when we get back to Star Labs. I think in the future we might need to borrow his house some more. This house and the island are absolutely gorgeous.”  
  
“I agree Lee. It’s absolutely beautiful here. And just so you know. He has multiple property’s on this earth. He has a few in the mountains where during the winter you can ski. A few more beach property’s on the mainland and some houses in Spain, Italy, London and Paris. We can go to many more places if we want to.” Kara explained as she hugged Lena and gave her a quick kiss.  
  
“Ow wow. That would be nice. Maybe he can use some of my houses on our earth when he wants to get away. If there is one thing that brings privacy that is going to an completely other earth. We could start an multi-earth vacation home program.“ Lena said while thinking about her own property’s that could be used.   
  
“Not a bad idea. We could suggest that.” Kara gave Lena another kiss before they both grabbed a bunch of suitcases.   
  
They walked off the deck and went inside of the house to explore a bit more and to unpack. Kara decided to unpack their suitcases after they changed into their bikinis. Lena put on a green one while Kara went with navy blue. After changing their clothes Lena went to make some rum cocktails and some special ones with alien alcohol for Kara while Kara unpacked all the suitcases.   
  
When they were done they both walked down to the beach with their pitchers and set them down under the beach umbrella. Kara moved one beach chair under the umbrella for Lena so she doesn’t burn and for herself she places the chair fully in the sun.  
  
Lena asked Kara for help applying sunscreen, which Kara didn’t mind at all. Kara made sure every inch of Lena was covered in sunscreen before they both sat down in their chairs and took in the surroundings. They sat in a extremely comfortable silence and began to feel completely relaxed. It didn’t take long before both of them drifted off in a comfortable nap. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The riddle answer: This code '706f74737469636b65727361726574686562657374' is a text turned to hexadecimal. Run it through a hex2dec converter and the answer comes out. In this case: 'potstickersarethebest'


	3. Finding out

\------------------------------- Two weeks later -------------------------------  
  
Alex is working through her backlog now that it’s summer and National City seems to have calmed down. She is working in her lab at the DEO doing research on some alien slime that they found at a crime scene a few months ago.   
  
“Hey Alex, do you have a minute?”  
  
Alex looks up from the microscope she was using. “Sure J’onn. What’s up?”  
  
“I was wondering if you have seen Kara. I wanted to ask her something about an alien we came across but I haven’t seen her lately.”  
  
Alex started thinking back when she had last seen Kara but can’t really remember it. But then again, the city has been calm. “I haven’t seen her either. She probably is just busy at CatCo. There really is not much to do at the moment for her at the DEO.”  
  
“I know. But there also haven’t been any news reports about Supergirl in the last two weeks.” J’onn said with a frown.  
  
Alex looked a little bit surprised about this and tried to think back to when she had last seen a news message about Supergirl. She couldn’t remember anything recent either.   
  
“I’ll look into it. I’ll drop by her apartment after my shift to see what’s up and ask her to talk to you. She probably is just busy interviewing people.”   
  
“Okay. No problem. Good luck testing the slime.” J’onn said with a smirk as he walked away from the lab.  
  
  
Three hours later Alex finished her shift at the DEO and drove her bike to Kara’s apartment. She had tried to remember when she had last spoken to Kara but didn’t really remember. She also hadn’t seen Kara at the DEO recently. Both could be explained though because she was busy at CatCo.   
  
 Alex stepped out of the stairwell on Kara’s floor and walked to her door.   
  
*knock*knock*knock*  
  
Twenty seconds pass but nothing happens. “Come on Kara. I know you can see me. Open the door!” Alex calls through the door.  
  
*knock*knock*knock*  
*knock*knock*knock*  
  
“Dammit Kara. If you don’t open up I will use my key to come in!” Alex calls through the door again.  
   
Alex gets the key’s out of her pocket and finds the key of Kara’s door. She tries to open the door with it, but for some reason the key doesn’t fit anymore.   
  
“Dammit Kara. Why doesn’t your key work.”  Alex mumbled to herself. She walks to another apartment where she knows the landlord lives.  
  
*knock*knock*knock*  
  
She hears some footsteps that stop just on the other side of the door. She suspects the landlord is using his peeping hole. After a few seconds she hears some shuffeling and locks open. A man in his late sixties opens the door after he had seen Alex standing outside.  
  
“Yes. Hello?” The man asks blunt and roughly.    
  
“Hello. I’m Alex Danvers. I’m sorry for disturbing you. I’m trying to get into my sisters apartment, but my key doesn’t work anymore.”  
  
“I know. It shouldn’t work anymore since we changed the locks when she moved out.”  
  
Alex her eyes grew a bit larger when she heard this.  
  
“Wait, she moved out? When? Why?”   
  
“She moved out two weeks ago. For the why, I have no idea. I know almost all her stuff went to a storage unit she rented. And no, I don’t have a forwarding address for her mail. I know you were going to ask that. Everyone always does.”  
  
“Okay. Thank you sir. Sorry for the interruption.” Alex said as her mind started wondering about why her sister moved out of her apartment. Surely Kara would have mentioned that to her. Alex grabbed the phone out of her pocked and called Kara.  
  
*Tu du du. This number is disconnected or no longer in service*  
  
What the hell Alex thought. Again….  
  
*Tu du du. This number is disconnected or no longer in service*  
  
“Why is her number not working anymore,” Alex mumbled to herself. She looked at her watch and saw it was only 3 pm. She decided to go to CatCo and find Kara there. At the same time she called Winn before getting on her bike.  
  
*ring*ring*ring*.. Winn here   
  
“Hey Winn, it’s Alex. I’ve got a question. I’m trying to find Kara but it seems her phone is disconnected and apparently she moved out of her apartment two weeks ago. Have you seen or heard from her?”   
  
No I haven’t. Actually I haven’t heard from her in a couple of weeks.   
  
“Damn. Okay Winn. I’ll go by CatCo and see if she is there. Thank you. Bye”.  
  
Alex got a bit of a bad feeling as she sat on her bike and drove to CatCo. After the short drive she parked her bike and walked into the lobby where she saw James walking to the elevator. Alex called for James and ask him to wait a moment.  
  
“Hey James. Have you seen Kara? I’m trying to find her but it seems impossible. Apparently she moved out of her apartment two weeks ago and I just found out her phone has been disconnected. Also there hasn’t been a Supergirl sighting in two weeks.”  
  
“No I haven’t. But maybe she is in her office? Come on the elevator and I’ll walk with you. “  
  
Both Alex and James got on the elevator to go up to the 20th floor. They got out of the elevator and walked towards Kara’s office. When they opened the door the office was completely empty. James walked to the other side of the floor towards Snappers office with Alex on his tail.  
  
“Snapper. Have you seen Kara Danvers? Her sister is looking for her and her office is empty.” James said as he walked into Snappers office.   
  
“Ponytail? No I haven’t seen her. And why would I? She quit more than a month ago.“  
  
Both Alex and James eyes immediately grew larger when they heard this.  
  
“What do you mean she quit a month ago?” Alex said. She started to feel nervous and now knew something was going on.  
  
“She came up to me and gave me her resignation letter. Thanked me for teaching her journalism and then finished the week. But shouldn’t you two know that? You’re her friend and you’re her sister?”  
  
“No. We didn’t know. She hadn’t mentioned this to us. Thank you for the information.” James said as he and Alex walked towards his office.    
  
They walked into James his office and immediately Alex closed the doors behind her. Angrily she hissed at James. “How didn’t you know about this James? Your office is even on the same floor as her?”  
  
“I’ve been busy. I’m trying to keep CatCo afloat and I have been doing the Guardian thing. Both is a lot of work.”   
  
“Dammit. This is just great. I’m going back to the DEO and see what else I can find. Are you coming with me or don’t you have the time?” Alex added sarcastically.   
  
“Sure, I’ll go.”  
  
Alex and James walked out of the office towards the elevator and rode it down towards the lobby. Alex  got the bike keys out of her pocket, got out of the elevator and walked towards her bike. She got on it and drove towards the DEO building while James took his company car.   
  
Alex did not have a good drive. Now she definitely knew something was up. She didn’t have any idea what, but something was going on.   
  
30 Minutes later Alex and James walked into the DEO command center where they saw Winn sitting at his computer and J’onn standing nearby.   
  
“J’onn. We got a problem. I can’t find Kara anywhere. Her phone is disconnected, she moved out of her apartment two weeks ago, she resigned at CatCo over a month ago and nobody has seen Supergirl in two weeks.” Alex said speaking fast and with a bit of fear noticeably in her voice.    
  
“That is not good. How didn’t anybody notice this?” J’onn asked in his booming commanding voice  
  
“I don’t know Sir. I thought we didn’t see her because it has been calm in the city and that she was working at CatCo. Winn, can you active her tracker?”  
  
“Her what now? Since when does she have a tracker?” Winn asked Alex with a confused face.  
  
“I implanted a tracker in her shoulder the last time she solar flared for if she would go missing at some point. And it seems this time she is. Here is the tracker code you can enter.”  
  
Alex send Winn an email with the code she kept on her phone. Winn opened the tracker program and entered the code. Immediately a signal was found and the location pinpointed toward Washington DC and the pentagon building. When they saw the location and the room number both Alex and John knew with who she was. Alex was already dialing the person and put the phone on speaker.  
  
“Major Lucy Lane speaking.”  
  
“Hey Lucy. It’s me, John, James and Winn here.”  
  
“What is going on. Why are you calling me?”  
  
“Well. We have a problem. We needed information on an alien race and wanted to ask Kara. But then we found out Kara’s phone has been disconnected, her apartment is empty, she resigned at CatCo and that Supergirl hasn’t been seen in two weeks. Now we tracked her to your office at the pentagon. Is she there?”  
  
“Just a quick question” Lucy said. “How did you track her here?”  
  
Alex knew this was a trick question but still needed to answer it. “We placed a tracker inside her shoulder the last time she solar flared.”  
  
“Did she know this?” Lucy asked, knowing the answer already.  
  
“No she didn’t. We never told her” Alex answered honestly. The way Lucy questioned her she knew that Lucy already knew the answer.  
  
“Well. At least your honest about it. And to answer your question: No, Kara isn’t here. And yes, there is a reason why the tracker is here and why you can’t find her. She found the tracker when she x-rayed her shoulder because it was bothering her. When she found the chip she had me remove it and keep it here. And why you can’t find her? There is an easy answer to that. She doesn’t want to be found. And you all might think about why that is.” Lucy had gotten more and more angry as she spoke. She disconnected the call without even saying goodbye and immediately send a text message to Kara through the special phone Kara got for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the next chapter there will be a longer delay. I feel this chapter sort of finishes a mini arc and sets up the next one.


	4. The Message

Kara and Lena were doing the same thing they have been doing for most of the last two weeks; laying on the beach, snorkeling, swimming, exploring the island and putting the red sun bracelet to good use. And as they found out, yes, sand absolutely goes where you don’t want it when your busy on the beach.

 

After the first week was over they flew to the mainland and just spend the day strolling around a random city buying knickknacks and souvenirs, without having to worry about accidents and aliens. At sunset they had a romantic dinner on the roof of a high-rise next to the beach and afterwards a night of passionate lovemaking. The other days were spend on the island doing absolutely nothing and loving it. For once they could fully relax and don’t care about anything. And that ended after fourteen days….

 

After fourteen days the interdimensional phone suddenly started ringing with a text message. Kara reached out for the phone from her comfortable position on the beach chair and read the message she got from Lucy.

 

“Well. It took fourteen days, but apparently someone missed me.” Kara read more of the message. ”Oh never mind, they wanted to ask me about an alien race and then couldn’t find me. How typical. They needed Supergirl….”

 

“What do you want to do now?”

 

“I’ll just send Lucy a text that she can show the video. Then we can go back to our vacation. I don’t want to think about them anymore. At least not now.”

 

Lena reached out to Kara and gives her a supportive hand squeeze.

 

“Okay. You know I support you 100%. Whatever you choose to do.”

 

“I know Lee. And I love you for that. But I have been waiting for months. They can wait now.”

 

Me:                      Hey Lucy. Would you mind showing them the video I gave you?

Lucy:                    No problem. Needed to go to NC anyway. Anything else needed?

Me:                       Maybe try to remember their responses. When we get back I would like to know what to expect.

Me:                       I don’t want to know about any of that at the moment. So far this vacation has been nothing but sun, beaches and relaxing. Don’t want to bring them into my mind now.

Lucy:                     Sure. I can do that. Have fun at your secret vacation. See you when you get back.

Me:                       You can count on it. Good luck with them.

 

Kara puts the phone on the table again and she notices Lena was reading the screen with her.

 

“You haven’t told Lucy where we are?”

 

“No. I’m afraid that if I do that J’onn will find out with his mind reading. I don’t want to risk anyone coming here and interrupting our vacation. If they knew where we are they would try to do that.“

 

“Smart thinking Kar. Now let’s get back to sunbathing for the rest of the day.”

 

 

\------------------------------- Earth 38 -------------------------------

 

When Lucy ended the call everyone looked at each other with bewilderment and worry. Nobody knew what to say and what went wrong. It was John that broke the silence.

 

“Does anyone know what just happened?”

 

“I have no idea.” Alex said. “I didn’t even know anything was wrong till two hours ago.” Suddenly her phone went off as she received a text message from Lucy.” I just got this from Lucy. She says she will be here at 8 pm and wants to see us all in the conference room because she has something to show us.”

 

They all started thinking what it could be but Winn was the one who said what everyone was thinking.

 

“I have a feeling this will not end well….”

 

Alex decided to walk away to the locker rooms and send a text to Maggie.

 

Me:       I might be home late tonight. Something is going on with Kara and Lucy is coming by at 8pm with information.

Mags:   What do you mean something is going on with Kara?

Me:       Well. I found out today that her phone number is disconnected, She moved out of her apartment two weeks ago, she resigned at CatCo over a month ago and no one has seen Supergirl in at least two weeks.

Mags:   Wait what? How did you all miss this? James is her boss and you manage Supergirl at the DEO. How did nobody miss her?

Me:       I don’t know. I thought she was working at CatCo the last few weeks because the city was quiet and James said he was too busy to notice it.

Mags:   You want me there tonight when Lucy arrives?

Me:       Sure. I have a feeling that what’s going to happen will not be good.

Mags:   Okay. See you at the DEO at 8pm them. Love you.

Me:       Love you to.

 

Alex decided she might as well stay at the DEO for a few hours while she wrecks her brain at what is going on.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Just before 8pm everyone got together in the conference room. They all silently sat down and were thinking about what was to come.

 

At exactly 8pm Lucy walked into the room and closed the door behind her. She connected her tablet to the video wall and sat down at the head of the table. Her face looked to be stuck in a state of disappointment.

 

“You all are probably wondering why I am here and what is going on. What’s going on you will see shortly and why I am here is simple. Kara asked me to do this since I’m the only person here she trusts anymore.”

 

Everyone at the table flinched when they heard that jab and let out a collective sigh wondering what was going to happen.

 

“I will now show the video Kara recorded for you.”

 

The video starts with Kara sitting on an empty beach during a sunset and looking straight into the camera. Everyone notices that she is looking tired, sad, hurt and that her eyes are red of crying. Then Kara started to speak. Everyone could see she was trying to reign in her emotions, but that it was difficult for her.

 

_Hello to what used to be my friends and family._

Everyone at the table flinched again.

_You all are probably wondering why you are here and why I recorded this message. The answer to this is simple. That is because you all hurt me deeply the last months…_

_I’m sorry if I start to ramble, but I need to finally get all of this off my chest. It has been pulling me down for months now and nobody even noticed._

_I recorded this video to be shown when you would notice I was gone. I don’t know how long it has taken for you to notice this, but based on the last months I wouldn’t be surprised if it took weeks. And guessing on why you noticed it I would bet everything that you needed Supergirl for something._

 

Everyone shared a quick glance with each other knowing Kara was right and all began to start feeling guilty already.

 

_To start with one of the easy things how you hurt me I ask you to think back. When was the last time any one of you showed up for game night? You know, that night once every two weeks where we eat, drink and play games together? At the time I recorded this video it was already six months since the last one. I kept inviting everyone but every time you all cancelled or simply didn’t show up. I stopped inviting four months ago and no one even noticed….._

Kara took a moment of silence as she was pinking away a few tears. For a few seconds she looks next to the camera as she tries calm herself down and build op the courage to say what she wants to say. After a moment she looks back at the camera with renewed vigor and start to talk again.

_But there are a lot more reasons and I will give them all today._

_Winn. We used to be best friends. When have we last gone to a karaoke night? When have we last seen a movie? When have we last even talk about anything not DEO or Supergirl related? Yeah, I also can’t remember. When I invite you, you always say you’re busy. Funny than that so often I have seen you sitting in a bar with James or I heard you playing an online game when I was flying around. Did you even notice I stopped inviting you to anything the last few months? Since I haven’t heard anything about it I guess not. It’s not like you have been inviting me to anything….._

_James. How long did it take for you to notice I resigned at CatCo? Considering the large amount of texts I got about it from you… Oh sorry, considering the 0 texts I got from you I take it you haven’t noticed it. We haven’t had a lunch together in months. We haven’t had a conversation about anything else then CatCo in months. Ever since you started running CatCo you claimed to be too busy to have a games night, go for drinks or do anything together. Yet you found the time to go and be Guardian and run around in the night. As I said before I’ve seen you and Winn often sitting in a bar together or do some online gaming. Most of the time multiple times per week, yet every time I asked you claim you were always busy. I guess I now know how much you value our friendship._

_Also, ever since we had our fight about you being Guardian things have never been the same. From that moment on you started pushing me away. Why? Because I was worried for you? The only reason I fought you on this was because you don’t have any training. You are a human in armor without any fighting skills. Remember how many times I got my butt kicked when I started? That happened with superpowers. Since then I have been training multiple times a week. Have you?_

_Another thing is that ever since Lena came to National City and I befriended her your never failed to mention how she’s a Luthor and you don’t trust her. You always think the worst of her and when something happens you always thinks it’s her fault without even a slither of evidence. And you don’t complain just to me, but everyone at CatCo. What are you trying to do? Trying to set everyone up against the owner of the magazine and ultimately their boss?_

_What’s funny though, is when she told me you tried to kiss her after work and asked her out on a date. You often date someone you don’t trust and claim to be a female Lex? But just to let you know, you never stood a chance. She knew exactly what you have been saying about her. It seems there are more people at CatCo who don’t look at her family name and like to help her succeed. Must hurt that people like ‘a Luthor’ more as their boss and actually warned her about you._

_J’onn. I know you have a busy job, but does that excuse some actions? Now and in the past? Let’s start with how I met you. You know, when you shot me out of the sky with kryptonite? Is that really necessary to do when you already knew who I was and had promised to protect me and Alex? If the roles were reversed, would you like it if I captured you by surrounding you with fire? Or would you prefer if I asked to talked to you? And the most recent thing is even more painful. You allowed Alex to insert a secret tracker in my shoulder when I was unconscious and had solar flared. You didn’t bother to tell me about it and didn’t say anything when I complained weeks later that my shoulder was bothering me. I know this wasn’t just Alex’s doing because when I found the tracker and Lucy removed it, we looked at the paperwork and it shows your signature on it. What I’m also wondering about is where is the DEO support for me? There is more and more kryptonite coming from somewhere but no one is investigating this. Why not? I keep fighting against more kryptonite and more alien weapons but no support from the DEO to help me with this. I just take the hits and hope for the best. Is that really the best strategy? And what happened to my request for a small reimbursement to help with my food costs? Since I became Supergirl my grocery bill has tripled. The more I use my powers the more I need to eat. Right now I eat at least 12.000 calories per day and combine this with my rent costs I have been struggling to reach the end of the month. What also doesn’t help is that I get called in more and more for things I’m not needed for. Do I really have to direct traffic at 3 am because the stoplights stopped working? There still is police in this city right?_

_And then you Alex. You say we are sisters. That we are family. But for the last years you have done a good job of convincing me otherwise. Where do I start. You shot me out of the sky with Kryptonite. Did you even suggest to just talk to me? When Jeremiah came back and I didn’t trust him blindly you said that I wasn’t your family unless I trusted him. Really? There are condition to be in your family? Do you know how much that hurts for someone who is adopted? You may have given an a apology later, but we both know that a remark like that leaves scars. Every time we have a fight you go straight to my weaknesses about family and abandonment. Do you do that with Maggie to or is it just to your adopted alien sister?_

_Then I recently find out you placed an tracker inside my shoulder while I was unconscious and didn’t bother to tell me about it. Really? How can I ever trust you after this? I am my own person. Not property of you or the DEO. And for some reason I have a feeling you are not even sorry about doing it. Maybe just about the fact you have been caught._

_Also, what happened to not abandoning me when you started dating Maggie? I am happy you found someone who makes you as happy as Maggie does, but as soon as she was in your life I have hardly seen you. Do you know we haven’t had a sisters night in almost 6 months? And I kept inviting you, but you never had time or even suggest another evening. When I suggested a girls night so Maggie could come I never even received a response from you. When is the last time we met for brunch? The last time we met for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? The last time we went to a bar or a club? Yeah, I don’t remember either. When was the last time we had a real talk? I can’t remember it. The only time I hear from you is when you complain about something in my life, which you know nothing about anymore, or when you need something from Supergirl. You keep complaining about me being friends with Lena, but you have never even bothered to meet her. What gives you the right to complain about her then? If it’s about her last name then why do you say your my sister? My father made the Medusa virus and my family knew Krypton was dying but did nothing. They killed millions of people yet you don’t hold that against me, Why do you use her name against her?_

_And one of your most shitty and painful moves is your continuous attempts to set me up with Mon-el. I told you I don’t like him. I told you I don’t trust him. I told you his name was fake and we both know he sleeps with everything that has a pulse. I really don’t know you anymore when you think that he is good enough for me. And you just keep setting me up with him even though I told you to stop. Do you know how happy I was when you finally texted to meet for drinks at the bar? Only to arrive there and see Mon-el waiting for me and you didn’t show up. You did this multiple times. Do you know how painful that was to me or to Mon-el? I don’t like him, but you just played with his and mine emotions while I kept turning him down. Were you always so heartless or what has happened to you?_

_But there is one more thing that is more painful and made it loud and clear how nobody cares about me. That thing is the third of June and the eleventh of June. Nobody knows why this is painful? Let me clear it up: The third of June was the day of Kryptons destruction. You all know how depressed I get about this every year. Did anyone come by? Did anyone call? Did anyone text? Did anyone even acknowledge it? No. I haven’t heard a single thing from anyone of you. The same goes for eleventh, my earth-birthday. This year I am officially longer on earth then I was on Krypton. Nobody acknowledged that it was my birthday. In the afternoon I received a text from Alex about meeting me at the bar for drinks. I thought maybe you all would be there, only to arrive and see she set me up again with Mon-el. This was the last straw. Do I mean that little to all of you?_

Kara went silent for a moment to get her tears under control. By now she was full on crying. I took almost a minute to get her crying to slow down. She spend that minute thinking about everything she has said and wanted to say. With a sad face she started to speak again. 

_Do you know how painful it is to have your friends and family drop you like you’re nothing? Especially after I already lost everything once before. Do you know how tiring it is to cry yourself to sleep at night? Do you know how painful it is that strangers see the hurt and pain on my face but people who claim to be my family and friends don’t?_

_I have recorded this video on the first of July, three days before I moved out of my apartment and two weeks after I resigned from CatCo. Nobody has noticed I quit. Nobody noticed that I haven’t been in my apartment for almost two months already. Nobody notices I don’t call or text them anymore. Nobody calls or texts me except for when they need Supergirl or some alien information. It only has been Supergirl this, Supergirl that, Supergirl I need this information. Do any of you know how long it has been since one of you asked ‘Kara, how are you doing?’_

_You know. There were only three people who bothered to call me or be with me in all these months? Eliza and Lucy were the only ones who called or talked to me. Sometimes I even flew to Washington just to visit her. And then there is Lena._

_Lena, the person you all keep warning me about yet somehow is the only one there for me. As of this point we have been dating for 7 months. Yes, you hear me right, dating.  And as of the last two months I have basically moved in with her. After three months of dating I decided to tell you all at the next game and sister night. Except there weren’t any of those anymore. After that I decided not to make an effort since you didn’t show any interest in me without me being the one to start it._

_And Alex, I didn’t tell you this when you tried to set me up with Mon-el because I wanted to tell you like sisters do. Gushing about our crushes. Not being forced to do it because you just decided to set me up and didn’t even ask if I was dating or even wanted to be set up. And yes, she knows I’m Supergirl. She knew ever since I met her for the first time. She didn’t say anything because she waited for me to tell her, which I did before we started dating._

_You know what is sad though? Even if I had a chance to tell you and introduce her nobody would have accepted her. Nobody bothered to get to know her in the months we were just friends. It’s actually really depressing to feel like I was lucky that you stopped communicating with me so I didn’t have to keep hearing you insult her. What has she ever done to deserve all the hate she receives from you? Nothing. She did absolutely nothing. The only thing you judge her on is her last name. If that is such a big deal you might want to start checking the toys on Winn’s desk. Or check if Alex hasn’t got a copy of the alien registry. Or see if Lucy isn’t building robots to kill me._

_Why doesn’t anybody trust me when I tell you Lena is nothing like you claim her to be? Why is my opinion completely invalid to all of you?_

_Lucy and Eliza have known about me and Lena ever since we decided to go public about our relationship. We have had dinner or drinks with them on multiple occasions because they wanted to get to know Lena. To see what she is like. That is more than I can say for any of you and we live in the same city……_

Kara went silent for a few seconds and took a couple of deep breaths.

_What this will mean for the future I don’t know. There are a few things that are definitely going to change though._

_The biggest one is that Supergirl will take a step back. I will only put on the cape in case of disasters or aliens the DEO can’t contain themselves. I am done working nearly 16 hour days. When do I get to take some time off? Everyone can go on a vacation, but I’m not allowed to go too far and I still have to respond to your calls. I want to live my life with the woman I love. I’m done ignoring my feelings and happiness. I am allowed to have a happy life and not always work. The DEO got by without my help, you will just have to do it again._

_As for the DEO, you will probably not see much of me anymore. At least not a lot if I can help it. There are several reasons as to why, but you will find them out later on. As for NDA’s and the paperwork you claim everyone needs to fill in when I tell them MY secret, you can forget about it. I’ve been working with a lawyer and made my own NDA for when it’s needed. I am done letting the DEO or my ‘family’ control who I can befriend and who I can’t. It’s funny actually. Everyone always warned me about making new friends yet the ones I had forgot about me without any problems._

_Since I said I was living with Lena now you will figure out my new address. Don’t bother showing up there though. Unless your approved you won’t get in. Not even flashing your badge will help. And to be clear, I am not there now. The day I moved out of my apartment we both went on a vacation to a place no one can find us and we went without a timetable on when we would return. If you need help in the meantime you can call Superman._

Kara let out a big sigh.

_And what this will all mean for us I have no idea. You all made it loud and clear how much you like having me in your life._

_Goodbye and I hope all will go well for you in the future._

 


	5. The Fallout

Everyone in the room was silent as they watch the video end. For a few minutes nobody said anything. Winn sat at the table looking stunned and pained. Alex had shrunk in on herself and sat with tears in her eyes looking down at her hands overthinking everything she had just heard. John didn’t show much emotion but seemed to be in deep thoughts. Maggie just sat there thinking ‘what just happened?’ while rubbing Alex’s back soothingly with her right hand. Hearing all of this wasn’t something she expected. She was a detective but her skills had really failed on little Danvers. At the other end of the table James didn’t show any emotion other than a bit of anger.  

 

After a few minutes of silence and overthinking Lucy spoke up.

 

“I know this message gives quite a shock, but you should be happy. When Kara broke down one night and told me about all this they were both thinking about leaving and never coming back. This seems much better in my opinion.”

 

“What do you mean leaving and never coming back?” Alex said startled. She was absolutely blindsided by all of this and didn’t want to think about her sister leaving without ever coming back.

 

“You know Kara has friends on another earth right?” Lucy said and Alex nodded. “They were thinking about selling everything they have and relocating to that earth. They have become close to some of the heroes and people over there and were considering moving to their earth. I can’t promise it won’t happen anyway. Lena has no family and she doesn’t have many friends left on this earth since they all dumped her when her stepbrother and stepmother went on a rampage, while Kara feels like she lost almost all her family and friends and has no real ties to this earth left. Combine it with the knowledge that Lena and some of the geniuses on the other earth have basically made a interdimensional internet where they can call, chat and email with each other they don’t feel like they have real ties to this earth anymore.

 

Everyone took in what Lucy was saying and they went silent again. After a few moments Maggie spoke up.

 

“How long have they been gone? And do you know where they are now?”

 

“They have been gone for two weeks now.” Lucy answered.

 

Alex flinched as she heard this and thought about how she hadn’t even noticed this.

 

“And as to where they are, I don’t know. They didn’t tell me and I didn’t ask. Kara didn’t want to tell me because she didn’t want J’onn to read my mind so that you could go after them. My best guess is they took a vacation on Barry’s world. They were talking about a private island, beaches and someone named Oliver Queen. And the most important reason why I think that they are there now is that nothing can or wants to harm them on that earth so they can let their guard down. They can completely relax without looking over their shoulder for trouble.“

 

“How long have you known about the problems? And does Eliza know since she has been having dinner with them?” Maggie asked since she was the least affected by what they heard. She also wanted to know what Eliza knew since there always have been problems between Alex and Eliza and this isn’t going to help with that.

 

“I have known now for about three months. Kara came to Washington to have a movie night and when she arrived I already saw the hurt and pain in her eyes, but I didn’t ask about it. During the movie she just broke down and the whole story came out. That is when we also found the tracker. She complained about her shoulder and she could now see the tiny tracker. It looks like her body was trying to remove the device on its own. And as to Eliza I don’t think she knows exactly what is going on. She might have picked up on a few things though since Kara isn’t subtle and her eyes have just been radiating hurt and pain for months now. Apparently even Snapper noticed something was off and asked her about it. As far as I know she hasn’t said to Eliza what is going on. She didn’t want to strain Alex and Eliza’s relation further than it already is. But now I have a question. I have only heard Kara’s side of the story so far. Is what she is saying correct or is it exaggerated?”

 

Everybody thought for a moment about this question. Winn spoke up first and said sadly “My part in this looks to be pretty much correct. I really can’t believe I didn’t notice anything of what she has said. When I now think about it, what she is saying is spot on.“

  

Nobody said anything and just looked down at their hands. After a few moments J’onn, who still looked deep in thought, started to speak.

 

“What she said about my involvement is true. I indeed signed off on the tracker. We did it in case she was ever kidnapped and this way she didn’t have to lie. We both thought it was a good solution since we knew why it was injected. But since she didn’t know about it, it must have been a shock to find out. When she told me about her shoulder bothering her I didn’t put it together with the tracker, but I should have. As for shooting her out of the sky with kryptonite we indeed did that. But I did it this way to make sure nobody found out I knew who she was and made sure she was treated as any other alien. Changing protocol and talking would be suspicious and someone might have found out I knew her already. But we made one big mistake back then and that was never explaining this to her.

As for the support it is also true. I would like nothing more than to find out why there is more kryptonite and there are more alien weapons, but higher ups don’t want to give me more budget to track it and they like the alien weapons for research. As for the money for the food I didn’t know it was so pressing. She made it sound like it wasn’t a big problem and that there was no rush.” J’onn finished talking and went back to being deep in thought. 

 

After J’onn James started to speak.

 

“What she said is mostly true, but she must understand how busy being the boss of CatCo is? And then adding Guardian to it I had even less time.”

 

Lucy decided to answer James. “But you being Guardian didn’t start until later and you forget Kara was Cat Grant’s assistant before she became a reporter. She knows how busy being the boss is, but still Cat made sure she was home on time to spend her evenings with her child. You are only the boss of CatCo magazine and not even the entire CatCo brand like Cat was. Beside that you being Guardian is maybe two evenings per week. Also you apparently found time to go have drinks with Winn on those other evenings or play video games. Hell, you apparently found time to try to date a woman you always complain about, who you don’t trust and pretty much hate since you have said and I quote ‘she is a female Lex’.”

 

James was silent for a moment as he thought about his answer.

 

“Well, I thought we might have a connection and decided to give it a try. Have you seen how she looks? Why not try it? And yes, I don’t trust her and still don’t like her. I thought maybe I could outgrow that. But I don’t want to talk about that. Is it really a good idea though to have Kara and Lena dating and knowing she is Supergirl? When they get back we might need to talk to her about this and convince her otherwise.”

 

As James said this he had an extremely self-righteous and arrogant look on his face. Everyone was looking at James like he grew a 2nd head and it was again Lucy who spoke, but this time with so much distain she couldn’t hide it from anyone.

 

“Wow. That is the most shallow and at the same time the saddest thing I have heard in a long time. You just watched that whole video and when or if she decides to talk to you again you want to attack her choices? Do you want to chase her away completely? As far as I know you’re not Kara’s keeper. You didn’t even notice she left CatCo and that’s how you want to bud into her life again? May I suggest you just keep your mouth shut from now on? If Kara asks what happened here this will look really good for you. And for your information, Lena is a really nice, warm and caring woman. She is nothing like her family or what the media try to portray her as. Almost everyone who works with her loves her as a boss and she always has time to help an employee when they are in trouble. How many CEO’s do you know help the janitor to fix a toy for his kid? Or help the caterer with a good lawyer when she was going through a nasty divorce with a deadbeat husband? That is who she is. You all would know that if you looked further then a gossip magazine or a last name.”

 

James started to become even more angry at Lucy’s outburst but he decided to keep his mouth shut for now.  Other people were trying to process the picture Lucy gave of Lena with what they thought she was like.

 

Alex sat at the table and after seeing the video and hearing the explanations she started to feel smaller and smaller. How had she missed all this? She tried to think back if she missed something during the past months and then it started to really sink in that she had hardly seen or spoken to Kara in months. With tears in her eyes Alex started to speak.

 

“Thinking back, what she is saying is completely true. When Maggie and me were dating for a few months Kara told me she was afraid I was going to forget about her like I had done during college. She told me I was already pulling away and I promised I wouldn’t do that. Not even a month later sister nights stopped because I always told her I was busy or already had plans. Even if it was just sitting on the couch watching television.” Alex her eyes suddenly grew a size as she thought of something. “Oh damn. I forgot about her hearing. Every time I cancelled or told her I was busy she probably heard me just sitting on the couch doing nothing.” Alex now really started to feel the guilt boiling up. “What I said to her about Jeremiah and family I really, really regret. I have apologized to her before about this, but I can see where she is coming from because that has not been the only time I lashed out at her about this. I’ve done it several times since she came to live with us, even though I know she still feels insecure about her place in the family and that she feels guilty about Jeremiah. When I get angry or worried I lash out at Kara. As for shooting her with kryptonite I admit I was against it, but didn’t say anything about it. I thought and hoped maybe she would stop superheroing after this. I was just trying to keep her safe. But I never really told her what happened and why we did what we did.”

 

Alex gathered her thoughts and spoke again.

 

“As for Mon-el I did try to push them together. Even after she told me her concerns and said she didn’t like him. I knew he liked her and hoped with a bit of pushing she would like him. And I kept setting them up even after she told me to stop doing that.”

 

Lucy interrupted Alex and asked “Why would you do that? Even I know he sleeps with everything that has a pulse and I live in Washington. Why would you keep pushing her to him when she didn’t want to?”

 

Alex sighed as she answered. “I don’t know. At first I thought she just needed a push to realize her feelings, but I kept doing it even after she told me to stop. I never really thought any of this through and just tried to do it. I know I really sound like a jerk right now, but I really didn’t think much about this. I was happy and was hoping she would be to.”

 

“And you thought a space frat boy was good enough for her? Seriously?” Lucy sighed and continued to speak. “And what happened to her birthday and the day of Kryptons destruction? How did you all forget about those days?”

 

Everybody was thinking back to the beginning of June and the first to speak was Winn.

 

“Normally she drops clues around those dates that something was going on. I guess since we all haven’t been speaking to her for months now she didn’t this time and we forgot about it. But I must admit that it is a bad excuse because we should have remembered it ourselves.”

 

After Winn Alex spoke up. “I just forgot. It’s as simple as that. It’s a really bad excuse for something I have been celebrating for thirteen years, but I just did. On the day of Kryptons destruction I had a free day and went shopping. And thinking back Kara even tried to talk to me the day before her birthday. She wanted to talk to me about something at the DEO and I didn’t even let her finish speaking before I told that Maggie got us tickets to a concert and we would make a day of it. She looked hurt but I didn’t think any of it at the time and went back to work soon after. The next day I texted her about meeting at the alien bar that night, but I tried to get her together again with Mon-el.” Alex went silent but after a few seconds she spoke again looking ashamed. “Oh god. Now I see how it must have looked after that text. She must have thought we forgot on purpose to surprise her at the bar that evening and then none of us where there.”

 

“I really don’t know what to say at the moment. You need to have her remind you of important dates otherwise you all will just forget? That shows real friendship.” Lucy said flabbergasted. “I will be here in NC for a few days. If you have more question you know where to find me or reach me. I think everyone has enough to think about at the moment so I suggest we go home and process this. I send you all a copy of the video in case you want to watch again. Good night and good luck figuring if and how you want to fix this.”

 

Lucy gathered her tablet and walked out of the conference room, going to her National City office where she would be staying. After Lucy everyone else in the room left as well and almost all of them feeling thoroughly ashamed and guilty.


	6. Coming To Terms - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suprise. A bit quicker then normal. Wanted to post one again. Have fun.

After stepping out of the DEO Maggie quickly decided that Alex was in no state to drive. They got into Maggie’s car and she drove them to their apartment. During the entire ride Alex just stared out of the window and didn’t say a word.

 

They arrived at the apartment and as soon as they walked in Alex sat down on the couch and started crying and sobbing. Maggie quickly sat down next to her and pulled Alex her head on her lap as she waited till Alex stopped crying.

 

It took nearly half an hour before Alex stopped sobbing and was able to talk again. Hesitantly Alex asked “I really screwed up didn’t I?”.

 

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, so I have to say yes Danvers. But not only you. Everyone including me did.”

 

“What do you mean you screwed up?”

 

“Well,” Maggie sighed as she thought about what to say. “When we started dating you often talked about how your sister was the most important person in your life and how close you are. I never really noticed that shortly after that Kara and I mostly saw each for work. We hardly saw each other in our personal time. I thought she was just busy heroing around. And the sister nights I thought maybe you put them on another evening since the original sister nights became our date nights. But when we started living together I never really thought about that we hardly saw her or that you are here almost every night. I never noticed you didn’t spend time with Kara. Basically I forgot like everyone else did.” 

 

Alex took a few moments to think. “So we all forgot about her. That will go over great if I ever get to speak to her again. The one thing she is most afraid off happened without anybody realizing. We all abandoned her and all at the same time.”

 

“It looks like that yes. And then other things happened like missing her birthday and the day of Krypton’s destruction. I think those were the catalyst of everything that’s happening now. Shortly after this she decided to move, break off all contact and just go away.”

 

“I know, I know. Thinking back she even tried to talk to me a couple of times but I always shut her down. The only time I listened to her was when she told me I should stop setting her up with Mon-el and then I went ahead and still did it.“

 

“Why did you that anyway? She told you a lot of good reasons and yet you kept pushing him. I really don’t understand why you would do that.”

 

“I don’t know either. I knew he liked her and thought I could set them up. Her concerns and wishes I just didn’t really think about and didn’t really pay attention to. I didn’t even feel bad doing it even though she told me to stop. I thought maybe she just needed a little push. I know how unsure and hesitant she could be and she always needed a little nudge.”

 

“Maybe you should have talked to her about that and not just decide on your own? Doesn’t she get to decide about her life?”

 

“I should have done that yes and she can decide about her life. It’s her life and she gets to live it like she wants.”

 

Maggie looked up surprised at that. “I really don’t believe that’s the case after what I have heard. She apparently has to get approval from the government about who she tells that she is Supergirl, which makes making friends or dating difficult since she has to lie all the time. There is a clause in the NDA that everyone has to sign that states that John can erase memories about her from someone’s mind with extremely open guidelines as to when and why. You two used to talk about everything together, yet as soon as she did something you didn’t like you yelled at her and shot her out of the sky. Then there is the Jeremiah situation where you basically disowned her because she didn’t follow you. She befriended Lena and from what I heard nobody got to know her new friend and yet you all kept making comments about someone you don’t know and as soon as she tells us she has been dating her for 7 months James immediately wants to plan an intervention and change her mind.”

 

Alex turned her head and watches her hands as she started thinking about what Maggie was saying and again found Maggie was right.    

 

“Your right.” Alex sighed. ”When you say it like that it looks terribly controlling. I never really thought about how any of this looks and how she would feel under it.” Alex stopped talking as she thought things over. “What do you think if we try to distract us from all of this for tonight? She won’t be coming back soon by the sound of things and I think I need some time to let it all sink in further.”

 

“Sure. Want to try watching some tv?”

 

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

 

Maggie walked towards the kitchen and grabbed a beer for both of them. She sat down next to Alex on the couch and for another hour they tried to watch some comedy show, but neither were really watching it. Both were just trying to process what had happened that evening.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------

 

The next morning Alex her alarm went off at 8 am in the morning. Both Alex and Maggie had the day of so this morning they tried to sleep in a little. For Alex it hadn’t worked that well. First she couldn’t fall asleep because she kept seeing Kara cry on the video and kept hearing the words Kara had spoken. When she finally did fall asleep, deep in the night, she slept restless. Her mind still trying to process what had happened.

 

After waking up they both had a shower and put on some clothes. Maggie started making breakfast and just as she was starting there was knocking on the door.

 

Alex grabbed her gun as she walked to the door and looked through the peeping hole. When she saw who was standing outside her apartment she let out a big sigh and braced herself as she opened the door.

 

“Good morning mom. Please come in.” Alex said knowing this was going to be a painful day.    

 

“Thank you Alex. Good morning to you too and also good morning to you Maggie.” Eliza said as she sat down a suitcase and her purse.

 

“Good morning Eliza.”

 

“Not that is not nice that you’re here, but what are you doing in National City? You didn’t mention you were coming?” Alex asked trying to find out why her mother suddenly had shown up.

 

Eliza sat down on a barstool at the counter as she started talking.

 

“I know. But last night I got two calls and they got me worried. The first one was Winn asking if Kara was there. The second one was J’onn. He was also asking if Kara was there or if I had seen her. I found it strange that they would call to Midvale to find her so I tried calling her phone. I only kept getting the message that her phone is no longer in service. Then I tried calling you, but neither of you picked up. I decided to get on the first flight here and see what was going on. Imagine my surprise when I went to Kara’s apartment only to find she doesn’t live there anymore. So I came here trying to find out what is going on.”

 

Eliza was watching Alex as she explained her arriving and as she was speaking saw her daughter getting paler and getting more anxious. She had a feeling something was wrong with Kara for months,  but she hadn’t want to press to hard. After the calls she received last night she decided it was time to find out what was happening.

 

“Well. What is going on is that we all screwed up like never before. Not you. Just me, Maggie, Winn, James and J’onn.” Alex looked defeated as she tried to explain what happened.

 

“What do you mean you all screwed up?”

 

Alex braced herself and she started talking. She didn’t try to sugarcoat anything since the truth would come out anyways. “Well. Only yesterday we found out that Kara has been gone for two weeks. She moved out of her apartment, changed her phone number, has quit CatCo over a month ago and that Supergirl hasn’t been seen in two weeks. James hadn’t noticed she had resigned and I thought she had been working at CatCo because the city has been so quiet. So when we couldn’t find her I activated a tracker I inserted in her shoulder the last time she had flared. And no, I hadn’t said to her that I did that. She didn’t know.”

 

Eliza didn’t know what she expected but not this. Especially not that Alex had inserted a secret tracker in her sister and hadn’t told her about it. But apparently she wasn’t finished yet.

 

“We found out her location and she was in Washington DC. When I called the office the signal came from it was Lucy Lane’s office. I called her and we found out Kara had found the tracker and Lucy had cut it out of Kara’s shoulder. Apparently her shoulder had been bothering her and she had seen the chip in her shoulder. When I called Lucy she told us to come to the DEO at 8pm yesterday evening. When she arrived she showed us a video from Kara.” Alex sighed deep and looked afraid. “I think it would be easier if you just watched the video as well.”

 

Alex stepped up from the counter and grabbed her tablet off the nightstand. She loaded the video and gave the tablet to Eliza so she could watch. Alex knew this wasn’t going to end well.

 

Eliza sat at the counter and was watching the video. Of everything the expected when she flew here this was definitely not on the list. As she watched the video she started to get a lot conflicting emotions. She was sad, hurt and angry but also proud. She was proud Kara had done this instead of keep getting hurt when everyone was abandoning her. She was proud Kara had kept going on with her life through the hardships over the months and she was proud Kara had someone as lovely as Lena on her side to help her trough everything. During the couple of times Kara and Lena had visited she had seen how much in love they were and how much they liked each other. When she had first heard from Kara that she was dating Lena Luthor she didn’t know what to expect. But meeting Lena was eye opener. It was like they were made for one other. Their personality’s fit perfectly together and complemented each other where it was needed. Kara and Lena’s hearts both had many walls build around them due to all the pain in their lives. Kara losing her planet and family, while Lena lost her family at a young age only to be adopted by a heartless family. Then she also lost her friends after what Lex and Lillian had done. They both had a public mask as Supergirl and as a CEO, but underneath they both are private  people who just want to be loved. She knew Kara still struggled with abandonment and losing people, but she also knew that Lena could help her with it. She had gone through the same things, but she was in a position to seek professional help. Kara couldn’t do this with her Supergirl secret hanging over her.

 

She had noticed for months that something was bothering Kara. Kara put on a brave face, but at unguarded moments she saw the flashes of hurt and pain in her eyes. Kara had never said anything was wrong, but she could see something was going on. She knew it wasn’t Lena related because of the way Kara looked at her, but that it was about what she was now seeing in the video she definitely hadn’t expected. With what she was seeing and hearing she knew where the pain in Kara’s eyes came from. Now she was even more proud of Kara. She continued to live her life after almost her entire support system fell away and even then she still had tried to protect them by saying everything was okay.

 

Eliza finished watching the video and set the tablet aside. When she looked up she saw two people looking at her. One looking ashamed and a afraid, the other was trying to look calm, but failed at that miserably. For a few moments Eliza said nothing but then she started to speak with a voice clear of any emotion.

 

“Alex. Can you tell me where I can find Lucy or how to contact her?”

 

Alex looked a bit relieved there was no yelling, but was still afraid. “Sure. She is staying at the DEO and I’ll text you her number.”

 

Eliza stood up, grabbed her purse and suitcase and walked towards the door. “Thank you. I will go find a hotel now and think about what I just saw and heard. Goodbye.” She walked out of the door and went to find a hotel room.

 

Alex let out a big breath she didn’t she was holding as Eliza closed the door. She wasn’t sure wat just happened, but at least there was no yelling. But the cold voice and lack of emotion in her mother’s face didn’t promise anything good either.


	7. Coming To Terms - Part 2

\----------------- Around 8pm that same evening -------------

 

Everyone gathered again at the DEO conference room. That afternoon they had received a message from Lucy that if they wanted they could ask more questions that night at the same time as the day before. A few moments before 8pm Lucy walked in and to the surprise of some, Eliza walked in after Lucy.

 

Alex and Maggie said hello while the others did it a bit more silent since they didn’t know how much Eliza knew of what was happening. It was Lucy that begun to speak.

 

“It has been a day since you have seen the video and could think things over. Tomorrow I’ll be going back to DC so I decided to do one last meetup. Just for those who don’t know, Eliza has seen the video this morning so she knows what is going on. First I will let her talk and then you can ask me questions again. But I have to say, I haven’t spoken to Kara so I have no news. But first, Eliza has some things to say.”

 

Eliza saw Lucy give her a nod that she could start speaking. Before Eliza started to speak she looked around the room. In her mind she tried to combine the faces of the people around her with the information from the video and with what she had heard from Lucy earlier in the day. Before she knew it she started to speak with fury and didn’t hold back.

 

“First of all I’d like to say that I’m surprised about what I heard in the video. I had seen she was struggling with something the last few months, but she didn’t tell me anything and I didn’t want to pry. But what I heard I hadn’t expected. How can you forget about her like that? You know how she has always struggled with her place in our lives and has abandonment issues, yet you treat her like this?”

 

Eliza has a moment of silence and goes on speaking. She is reacting to what she had heard in the video and what she has learned from Lucy but also what she has learned the last few months.

 

“You completely forgot about her, didn’t care for her wishes or wellbeing and still get angry at her for taking to many risks. There is more and more Kryptonite around, yet she is send out without any protection. Then you start yelling at her for taking to many risks in the field. What is she supposed to do? If she doesn’t help you blame her for being irresponsible because she has a job to do and if she helps you say she is taking to many risks.”

 

Eliza turns a bit so she is facing J’onn.

 

“J’onn. I know you’re in a hard place being the director and her friend, but was having some food reimbursements so much trouble? Even doing that before she asked? She hasn’t asked for anything since she started helping, but she gets put in the field more and more. You know she wouldn’t ask for help unless the situation was problematic. She hadn’t said anything to me or Lena, but when they visited months ago Lena and I started talking. We both had noticed that Kara appeared thinner and unhealthy. When Kara had woken up we confronted her about this and after much prying she told us what had happened. Her body was burning so many calories per day that she ran out of money about a week before her next paycheck. Her savings are gone because of her food bill and often needing new clothes. She was trying to ration herself, but it was well under her normal needs. She had been using dinners with Lena and me to eat as much as possible, but still it wasn’t enough and she didn’t want to ask for help. Do you know how humiliated she felt that she couldn’t feed herself? We managed to convince her to ask for some sort of salary from you, but then nothing happened. Lena has been helping her with this since then, but she shouldn’t have to do that.”

 

Eliza looked around the room as she said ”How didn’t any one of you notice that she was thinner and wasn’t looking healthy? Did you all miss the bags under her eyes?” Then she turned back to J’onn. “The tracker I’m not even going to say anything about. I hope you both know how wrong it was doing that. Do you know how much a breach of trust that is? From you as well as Alex. She is a person, not some kind of tool owned by the DEO.”

 

Eliza looks at J’onn and he looks thoroughly ashamed as he heard of Kara’s problems. She then turns to Winn. She knows he didn’t do as much as the others so she takes is a bit easier on him. She gives him a small smile before she starts talking.

 

“Winn. You were Kara’s best friend. What went wrong? You have been friends for years and now suddenly you completely forget about her? You spend the holidays with her. You used to go sing karaoke together. What has happened to suddenly stop that? You went from best friend to barely acknowledging her.”

 

Winn looked very small and she could see he was thinking about what she had said. Next she turned to James who was sitting almost in front of her. His arms crossed and looking like he was planning to hit someone, but she still started berating him.

 

“James. Really? Can you fight? Have you done any fighting lessons? No. the only advantage you have is that you are a strong and big guy. That’s it. You think a little piece of armor will safe you? If Kara wanted she could wrap you up like a sardine in a can without any problem. You don’t have any training, you are not learning how to fight, but I’m guessing when you get in trouble Kara needs to come and rescue you? And how many nights are you running around playing Guardian? Once maybe twice a week right? And you dare use that as an excuse that you are “so busy”? Kara flies around every day and most days works for nearly 16 hours. She might be from another planet, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need sleep or doesn’t want a social life. Every one of you has one job and that’s it. You get to go home and relax after your shift. Kara is on call 24/7 and is called in every day to help, even with normal problems. You should protect her from becoming overworked and not send her out to everything. You all know she will respond when she is called because of her sense of duty. First it was only alien fights. Then it became helping with fires. Then helping ambulances. It never is enough. Why is she helping with broken traffic lights? There are police and city workers for that. All of you have managed to overwork and burn her out so much that she needed to leave.”

 

The last part was meant for all and she made sure everyone knew that by looking around at them, but soon she focused back on James.

 

“And James, how can you not miss someone who you claim is your friend and works on the same floor as you. A month James. She was gone a month and you only noticed because Alex came looking for her. Did becoming the boss of the magazine really go up to your head that much? And trying to date Lena just because of her looks? I thought you were raised better than that,” Eliza fumed.

 

James looked pained, but also mad. He really couldn’t handle anyone giving him a hard time about him being Guardian or that he was turned down by a Luthor.

 

And last she turned to her daughter. Their relation has not always been the best but this time she didn’t want to sugarcoat things. She could see on Alex her face that she knew what was coming and had peace with it. She spoke softly, but still firm and strict.

 

“And Alex. What can I say. You always worry about me being disappointed in you but this time I really am. You place a tracker in your sister without her consent, you tossed her aside like an old newspaper when you started dating and you kept setting her up, against her wishes, with a guy who by the sound of it looks like a gold spoon fed frat boy without any morals. Why did you do this? You were always so protective of her and then you try to set her up with him?”

 

Eliza took a few second to collect her thoughts as she started speaking about a painful subject, but it could not be not addressed.

 

“Alex, saying Kara is not part of the family unless she believed Jeremiah was a low blow. But if you really believe that she is not family unless she believed him I guess that I’m also not your family then. You didn’t really think I trusted him right? I missed him for a long time Alex, but I made my peace that he had died. Was I happy he was back? Yes. But I also was afraid what had happened to him during that time. Alex, he was captured for more than 10 years. Being captive so long changes people.”

 

Eliza sighed deeply and looked pained, but also lighter getting all this of her chest. She could only imagine how all this had dragged Kara down.

 

“What I want to know though is why you always take out your anger and frustration on Kara? You did it from the moment she came to live with us. I know you didn’t like her at first, but it kept going even after you grew to love her. My guess is you do this because you know she will always come back to you due to her abandonment issues and being afraid of losing more family. But I am afraid this time it might not turn out this way or that it will be a difficult path to get her back. All of this happening was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Out of all people that hurt her you were the closest to her so I am afraid it will also be the most difficult for her to forgive you for this.”

 

Eliza saw the sorrow and pain flashing through Alex her eyes as she spoke and she saw it finally register how problematic the situation had become and that the road to fix this would be difficult. She also saw that she was right on point with her analysis of Alex her behavior. Normally she wouldn’t have done these conversations at the DEO, but these talks and hard truths needed to be had and right now was as good time as any, especially since it was more than one person who had failed. Considering what she had heard from Lucy she expected Kara and Lena to be gone for some time and maybe some progress could be made in the meantime.

 

Looking around the room she started to speak again, scolding everyone. “How did you all forget about her birthday and the day Krypton was destroyed? You all know those are difficult day’s for her. Especially this year since she has now been on earth longer then on Krypton. Alex, you especially should now how depressed she is on the day of the destruction. You always spend it with her and you promised her to always be there for her on that day.”

 

Alex looked down with tears in her eyes and her throat shut with regret.

 

“There were only two people who acknowledged that day. Lucy and I both called her that morning. She really didn’t sound good and sounded depressed. Lena was there for her that day, but even she couldn’t handle Kara that evening. By then they both knew all of you forgot the day and Kara didn’t take it well. Did you know Kara got black-out drunk that evening? She went to the alien bar, got several bottles of alien alcohol and spend the entire evening downing one drink after another at Lena’s apartment. I wonder where she got that coping mechanism from….” Eliza questioned out loud and  looked directly toward Alex to make clear where Kara got this from. Alex looked pained and ashamed because she knew Kara got this from her.

 

Eliza calms down a bit as she looks around the table and saw that the severity of the situation became clear. She decided to wrap up soon, but first there was another thing that needed to be addressed.

 

“There is one more thing I want to talk about and that is Lena. How would you like it if everyone you knew talked about a friend of yours like you talk about Lena. And when you are dating someone that you have to be afraid of other people’s reaction when you want to tell them who you are dating? If any of you had bothered to get to know Lena, you would know she is nothing like her family. I won’t tell Lena’s history because she is a very private person, but she hates her family as much as you all do. She has been trying to get out from under the Luthor name and what people expect her to be because of that name. She really is nothing like newspapers, magazines and tabloids make her out to be. They get their information from other CEO’s who want to take her down or they just make things up. Ask her employees or coworkers over the years and they all love her. She is a smart, geeky, warm, friendly woman who tries to make the world a better place. And like Kara said, I don’t see any of you shunning Winn, Alex or Lucy for things their family did….

 

Eliza releases a breath she didn’t know she was holding. It was a difficult talk, but these things needed to be said before things could change. She looks around the room an notices that everyone is thinking about what she has said. She nods to Lucy that she is done and that Lucy can take over.

 

After meeting Eliza this afternoon Lucy knew what was going to happen tonight. They had discussed the past few months and what had happened between Kara an her friends. Both were now on the same page as to what had happened and what was discussed at the last meeting. They don’t know what will happen in the future, but they both know Kara and based om some questions Kara had asked both of them before she left, they have an inkling at what the future might hold.

 

Lucy waited a few more moments and decided that it was time to continue. “You just heard Eliza and what she had to say. I don’t have anything to add so do any of you have any questions before I leave tomorrow?”

 

Alex was the first to ask a question.

 

“Do you know when they will be back? They can’t take a really long vacation with Lena her job and Kara being Supergirl, so I’m guessing they should be back soon-ish.”

 

Lucy decided to answer this question with a bit of tact since apparently a part of the video hadn’t been remembered. ‘Alex, I have no idea when they will be back. It could be in an hour, but might as well be in three months. Lena took a sabbatical and left her CFO, who is one of the only friends she has left, in charge of the company. And Kara being Supergirl, she addressed that in the video. Only in case of large disasters or things the DEO can’t handle. If we need help while they are away, we have to call Superman. I know you all have hardly seen her, but she was running on fumes before she quit her job. She was overworked, stressed and tired. So I don’t know when they will be back, but when they get back probably a lot will change in regard to her being Supergirl. You and J’onn might want to adapt to that. At least let the Police and Fire department know not to expect her help anymore since she already said that.” When she looked at Alex it was clear Alex had forgotten that part already and saw that she was a bit shocked. Suddenly Lucy remembered something else. “Her stopping to help is actually a smart idea of her, otherwise it would have been too late. The city council is planning on cutting a part of the Police and Fire department budget because of her helping. So if she hadn’t stopped when she did they basically forced her into another job.”

 

Both Alex and J’onn nodded and understood the implications of Kara taking a step back. Alex also thought about the last bit of information and that Kara would have been forced into almost another job. She had not thought about it before, but while being a DEO agent was dangerous and sometimes meant working long hours, they got a good salary and had mandatory time off. Kara was pretty much on call 24/7, she only had her normal CatCo salary, she couldn’t take a real vacation, couldn’t travel far away and was called in multiple times a day. People had become too reliant on her and she was burning out. Alex had one more question though.

 

“I hear you both talking about Lena and that our perception of her is wrong, but how can you be sure? What if it is just one big plot to get to Kara? Lex used to be Superman’s friend until he betrayed him.” Alex asked and she saw James nodding approvingly.

 

Both Eliza and Lucy sighed and it was Lucy that answered. “Really Alex? What does she have to do that you at least stop doubting her every second? Do you trust me? I was raised by a bigoted general that tries to capture and torture aliens. Do you not trust me? Don’t you also trust Winn?”

 

“I do trust you and Winn. But that is because I know you and I don’t know her at all.”

 

“And whose fault is that?” Lucy snapped an Alex flinched at the tone Lucy used. ”Kara made multiple attempts for everyone to get to know her and you never did anything with it. You all were content having the picture of her who you thought she was. Both Eliza and I got to know her, even before they started dating and she really is not like you all make her out to be. But that is a big part of the problem isn’t it? You never bothered to get to know the real Lena. But I have a question for you Alex. Do you trust Kara?”

 

Alex huffed indignantly as she answered. “Yes, I trust her. Why?”

 

“If you trust her then why don’t you trust her decision on Lena? And why didn’t you trust her when she doubted Jeremiah? You don’t trust her unless she agreeing with your viewpoint.”  

 

Alex sat back and started thinking about this. She thought back to when they were growing up and how close they used to be. How Kara always asked her for help navigating friendships and personal relationships and how this stopped when she became a reporter and got Lena in her life.

 

I don’t really know,” Alex answered. “She used to come to me about navigating personal relationships and making friends. But she stopped doing that when she became a reporter and I guess I’m still afraid she has problems with these things.”

 

This time Eliza spoke. “That can be, but it was you that pulled away from her. What was she supposed to do? Wait until you gave her some attention again? No. She decided to trust her own instincts and grew to trust them. That they don’t align with yours anymore doesn’t mean you can’t trust her. The last six months she basically had a massive emotional grow spurt. Thanks to all of you abandoning her she isn’t the lonely, sad, shy and full of self-doubt girl anymore. She grew up and became a confident woman who started dealing with her problems. Both Lucy and me noticed this. And I am sure Lena has been helping her with this. She knows something about family betrayal, abandonment and loneliness. Kara kept giving all of you chances, but at some point she made the decision to move on with her life and I can understand why she did what she did. I’m proud of her for doing this instead of keep getting hurt.”

 

It hurt Alex to hear them say this, but she knew her mother was right. They all screwed up massively and particularly her.

 

“Do any of you have any other questions?” Lucy asked.

 

There was a silence as all felt chastised enough for one night. Everyone was now clear on the problems and the failings in their relation to Kara. Now it was just a question on how to solve this mess and if Kara would actually like to solve it.

 

“Okay then. I’m going to my bunk bed and prepare for a flight back to DC tomorrow. I suggest you all use the coming time to reflect on your behavior and maybe solve some of the underlying issues you have. Good night everyone.”

 

Lucy stood up and walked out of the conference room. Before everyone else left Eliza made one final comment to all.

 

“Might I suggest you all learn to live with Lena in Kara’s life? From what I have seen there is no doubt in my eyes Lena is ‘it’ for Kara and based on what I have seen and heard I doubt you will have a chance to get back into Kara’s life if you don’t accept her. She isn’t the same girl ‘who is afraid of losing anyone’ anymore.”    

 

As everyone finished absorbing the last comment Eliza walked out of the room and left everyone with enough food for thought. The people left behind sat there for another couple of minutes before slowly standing up and leaving the DEO. They didn’t say anything to each other as they all were processing the verbal spanking they had received from Eliza.


	8. The Future

Kara and Lena had been on the island for three weeks now and enjoyed every minute of it. They had been laying on the warm sand of the beach, swimming in the pearl blue ocean, snorkeling at the coral reefs and traveling to a nearby city for romantic dinners. Neither had ever been so relaxed and recharged as they were at that moment.

 

Laying on the deckchair overlooking the ocean, Lena knew the end of their vacation on earth 1 was coming up. She was trying to muster up the courage to have a deep conversation with Kara about the future. They had said to not think about anything while on vacation, but they both had done it anyway. Some things you can’t just forget, even if you try to. However, she decided that the next day would be a better time to start the future talk. There is nothing like a good bit of procrastination before touching a difficult subject after all.

 

She got up from her chair and turned on the patio music system, which started playing calm and relaxing music from her movie scores playlist. She filled up her glass with another mojito, sat back down on the chair and opened the e-reader which resumed at her favorite book. She would never grow tired of reading the Harry Potter series. She couldn’t suppress a small chuckle thinking back to when they had been dating for a month.

 

_Kara had been in Lena’s apartment often enough, but Lena had never shown Kara her private office. Kara had come in through the balcony doors and had found an empty apartment. Trying to find her girlfriend she had followed Lena’s heartbeat and ended walking into the private office._

_Lena had never heard Kara arrive and she nearly fell out of her chair when she suddenly heard a squeal of delight coming from the office door. Suddenly a Kryptonian rushed by speeding towards a large wall filled with books. Kara stopped in front of the wall and looked in awe at the shells filled with Lena’s favorite books._

_“Oh my Rao, Lee. Look at all these books. This is absolutely awesome,” Kara said with amazement. “How come I have never been in here before?”_

_“Well, when you are here I never really work so no need for the office. But by the look on your face I think you like my little library?” Lena said with a delighted smile. “These are some of my favorite books.”_

_“Like? I love it,” Kara answered with big smile still looking in wonder at all the books. ”I once told you I like to read, but that was a bit of an understatement. When I arrived on earth I watched a lot of television and read a lot of books to get more understanding of earth. But the love of reading never left, only the time to do it.”_

_Lena watched on as Kara searched through the shelves. When Kara reached the shelve Lena was most nervous about she heard another squeal of delight._

_“Lee. The books on this shelve. Please tell me these are your favorites?”_

_“Yes. Those are my favorites. You like them?” Lena said with a happy smile._

_“I love these books. I can’t count how often I have read the Harry Potter books. Or the Lord of the Rings books for that matter,” Kara told her with a cute crinkle between her eyes._

_“Well, maybe we can read them together sometime. Or you can read them for me? I love hearing your voice,” Lena said a little hesitant revealing this information._

_“I’d love to Lee,” Kara beamed at this._

After Lena shakes of her little trip down memory lane she looks at her watch and sees that Kara will probably be gone for another couple of hours. Barry had called and asked Kara to fly by because he wanted to discuss something about her new suit. So she decided to go back for a couple of hours while Lena stayed at the island.

 

Lena sat back and was soon absorbed back in to book that was ‘The Order of the Phoenix’.

 

 

It was just before sunset the next evening that Lena couldn’t contain her curiosity anymore. Kara hadn’t said anything about what Barry wanted to talk about. They sat on the patio waiting for the sunset as Lena tried to start the conversation and perhaps have the big talk as well.

 

“Kar, please. What did Barry want? You came back and didn’t say anything. I just want to know. It wasn’t bad was it?” Lena tried to convince her girlfriend.

 

With a little chuckle and a devious smile Kara answered. “Lee, it wasn’t anything bad. I didn’t say anything because I wanted to know how long it would take before you cracked and straight up asked me.”

 

Lena looked happily annoyed by this, but Kara still hadn’t said anything. “Well, tell me then. I really want to know.”

 

“Fine,” Kara said with a roll of her eyes. “So one the things Cisco has designed for my new suit is a bo-staff and a shield for me to fight with. The staff and shield are made from something called dwarf star alloy, which is one of the toughest alloy on this earth. He made me a two part bo-staff out of it, which can be used as kali sticks but they can also be connected to make one large staff. The shield is made of the same alloy. With the shield I can shield myself or people, but it’s so strong it also is able to deflect energy weapons. So no more blasts to the chest,” Kara looked expectantly toward Lena to see how she would react. There was more, but she first wanted her opinion.

 

Lena sat there in awe as she heard what they had made for Kara and that it wasn’t just this. This was more protection and help then she had ever received from the DEO. She was so glad there were some good and smart people looking out for Kara her wellbeing. She could only wonder what more there could be.

 

“That is so great Kar. I know you are not used to this much help, but this is what the DEO should have been doing on our earth. The heroes and people here really want to protect you.”

 

“I know,” Kara said and a sad smile showed when thinking about the DEO. “But this is not all. Barry knows I haven’t fought using weapons before and he wanted to talk to me about this. I know we were thinking about returning to our earth somewhere this week, but could we maybe delay it for about two weeks?”

 

“Sure, there is no rush to return. But why?”

 

“Well, you met Sara and Nyssa right?” Lena nodded at this. “Barry talked to them and they want to train me using a staff and shield as weapons. They both are a bit bored at the moment and like to fight. Both of them learned how to use a staff and shield in the League of Assassins and want to give me a crash course. I will be training for about 12 to 14 hours per day during that time.”

 

Lena nodded approvingly and with a proud smile. She already was thinking what good those things would do without proper training, but Barry had also thought about that apparently. But there was one question remaining. “Where will you be training?”

 

With a bit of hesitation Kara spoke. “Well, we were thinking right here on the island. We can train on the beach, there is enough sun to recharge me while they take turns training me and there are enough spare rooms for them to stay.” Kara look expectantly at Lena, but she didn’t have to worry.

 

Lena took it in and was extremely happy. More vacation, proper training for Kara and she remained on the island. With a smile Lena relaxed Kara’s worries. “That is great Kar. I would have followed you anywhere, but training here on the island is a good idea.”

 

“I had a feeling you would say that. After all, who doesn’t like to watch three hot women train, sweat and fight in shorts and training bra’s?” Kara said with a devious smile and a wink.

 

Lena blushed profusely, but she didn’t deny it. “When will they get here?”

 

“I have to send a text to Barry, but they should be in three days.”

 

Lena nodded approvingly. “Okay. Sounds good. But while we are talking about this, do you think we can discuss some more things about our future? We both had some time to think about what we want to do and I’d like to have this conversation before Sara and Nyssa arrive.”

 

Softly and uncomfortable Kara answered. “I think we could do that yes. Tonight is as good time as any. What shall we talk about first? You want to talk about what earth we want to go live on?”

 

“Sure.” Lena says as she nods. “I want to keep living on our earth. Being here is nice for a vacation, but I will miss our earth and L-Corp. I want to continue changing the world with L-Corp and being a force for good. I want to redeem the Luthor name for once and for all.”

 

“I agree,” Kara says. ”Being here is nice and I could live here permanently, but only as a last resort if we can’t live on our earth anymore.”

 

Lena nods approvingly and agrees with Kara on this. “Okay. That sounds good. Any more things? Perhaps you can say what you have been thinking about and I’ll go next?”

 

Kara sighs a little since she isn’t good at sharing her thoughts, but she will do it anyway. “Well. I have been thinking about a lot of things. First is me being Supergirl. I won’t quit being her, but I’m going to dial it back a lot. I’m thinking about only doing big emergency helping, like helping at natural disasters and alien problems the DEO can’t contain themselves. The city services need to fend for themselves. Before we came here I heard they were planning on laying off a lot of people since I always help or swoop in. I can’t and don’t want to do that anymore. I want to be able to spend evenings with you snuggling on the couch or having Sunday mornings in bed without getting called in. Simply said I want to spend more time with you. You know how overworked I was before. I want to live a happy life and not work till I drop.” Kara looks towards Lena hoping she agrees with this.

 

Lena knew that Kara had felt this way for some time already. She had heard Kara when she wrote down her feelings before making the video. But still it was nice hearing her confirm it.

 

“I think it’s a great idea darling. I know you like helping people, but at some point you got to take a step back before it swallows you whole. You have given so much already for others, it is now ‘you’ time. And I must admit it would be nice to spend time with each other without getting called away. I know we have had limited free time together with me being a CEO and you flying around, but with you stepping down I have to admit I was thinking about doing the same thing.”

 

Kara looks surprised at this admission and Lena wonders why she is looking so surprised. When she rethinks what she has said she knows why.

 

“Sorry, I think I said that wrong.” Lena corrects quickly.”  I’m not stepping down as CEO, but I’m thinking about delegating more and giving the department heads more responsibility.” Lena sees Kara relaxing and now knows what Kara was thinking. “I still have to go on business trips and I will have meetings on weird hours, but not as much as I have now. Also I want to do some lab work again. I miss tinkering with projects and inventing things. I will need to thoroughly vet and hire some new people, but I think it will be worth it. I have been doing too much alone and like you I was getting overworked. What do you think?”

 

Kara beams as she hears Lena reasoning. “I would love that. I know you like lab work and that you miss it. Maybe I can help with the vetting? I can tell quite easy when someone is lying. And maybe Cisco or Felicity can also help. They can probably track if someone is dirty or secretly contacting someone. But yes, I would love it if you also have more time off so we can do couple things. We never had the most normal upbringing or lives so I would like to do some things together that normal couples do. Go to the movies, maybe walk on the beach or even some camping in a RV.”

 

“I would love to do that to. And hiring Cisco or Felicity is not a bad idea. We already know we can trust hem and know they have good skills.” Lena has a happy smile on her face and is feeling incredibly happy that they are both on the same page. But she does have another question. “Have you thought about another job?”

 

“I have actually, but I’m not sure yet.” Kara said with doubt in her voice. “That is something I want to decide after our extended vacation. What I do know is that I probably won’t be a reporter again. At least not on the topics I was working on. Perhaps I will go freelance so I can plan my own hours and write about things I’m passionate about. I was also thinking about maybe contacting Cat and getting some information about starting my own magazine. I would like to make a monthly magazine catered towards the alien population or people interested in learning more about the universe. Help create understanding. But for the short term and to have some money again I have another idea, but it’s kind of cheating for me. I’m thinking about using my powers for precious mineral mining. I can quite easily detect precious metals and perhaps sell good locations to companies. I have been testing before we left from our earth and found some good places to mine. It would bring in some quick cash and it saves a lot of forests of being ruined. What do you think about this?”

 

Lena takes a moment to think this over. It is a smart way for Kara to make some money to replace what she lost and it would indeed save large parts of forests from being cut down for nothing. It could be something worth checking out. And Kara going freelance is something she had expected already. Kara had told her she wasn’t happy being a reporter at CatCo anymore and this might be a good way to find out if she wants to be a reporter at all.

 

“I think it is a good idea of you going freelance. I actually had expected it already. This way you can find out if you weren’t happy at CatCo or just not into being a reporter anymore.” Kara nodded in agreement. “And of using your powers to find precious minerals is something worth looking into. L-Corp might be going for green energy, but there are still certain minerals needed. Maybe some sort of partnership is possible. But you know you don’t have to do this right? I’m worth billions so we have enough money.”

 

Kara beams when she hears Lena wants to work together and looks incredibly happy. She knows that over mining the core of Krypton let to its destruction, but humanity was not going to stop any time soon and there is a difference between mining for elements and draining the core of its power.

 

“I think we should look into that,” Kara says nodding approvingly. “There are more things I can help with that could save a lot of useless destruction. And I know your worth billions, but I also want to have some of my own money so I don’t need to get everything from you.”

 

Lena nods as she understand this. Considering how sad and humiliated Kara was when she didn’t have enough money for food she knows Kara wants to be self-sufficient. At least on paper she wants to be, because they both like having dinners together and secretly Kara likes it when Lena pays for things because it makes her feel wooed. Finding that out had resulted in a blushing and embarrassed  Kryptonian who got teased about it for the entire night.

 

Kara and Lena looked at the sunset in a comfortable silence as they were overthinking the conversation. There was more to discuss, but not right now. They were staring at the sunset as they felt the last rays of sun warming their skin and the darkness slowly setting in. This was one of their favorites moments of the day. The orange and red colors of the sunset made Kara feel a bit like she felt on Krypton. Not long after sunset it was so dark around that they had a clear view of the stars in the sky. Both took in the sight and enjoyed the calmness and silence.

 

It was after almost an hour that Kara got up to lit a few tiki torches around the sitting area. It gave a nice orange glow making the scenery utterly calm and romantic. She went on to the kitchen to get some more drinks and snacks for the both of them while also getting a few pizza’s for herself. Walking back to the chairs she couldn’t suppress the feeling of love and ‘being at peace’ in herself. She felt so happy right now her heart could burst. This vacation and the time to think was exactly what she had needed.

 

When Kara had inhaled her pizza’s she wanted to talk a bit more about their future and she noticed Lena was also ready for it. “Lee? I know we already talked about what will come next, but what do you want to do after my training?”

 

Lena thought about it for a moment. She had thought about it already and had an idea what she wanted to do, but not in much detail. Looking at Kara’s encouraging smile she decided to share anyway. “I don’t know exactly yet. I was thinking of maybe staying in National City for a couple of days to see if Sam has things for me to sign or read. After that I thought maybe we could travel around a bit? Take the L-Corp jet and go sightseeing. For the first time in my life I can go and do tourist things and I really want to do that. After that I think it will be time to return to National City and take care of finding the new people and vetting them. When that is done I want to get back to work again. What do you want to do?” Lena hopes she hasn’t said anything wrong. She is still a bit uncomfortable letting her feelings known, but when she looks up expectantly, she sees nothing but love and understanding.

 

Kara nods as she answers. “I think that it is a good plan. When you are going to L-Corp I’ll write a letter for the people of National City to let them know I’m semi-retiring.” Kara’s smile turns to a sad look as she overthinks her next plan. “I’m also thinking about going to the fortress to visit. I have only been there once and that was a quick visit when I had just arrived on earth. I have never been inside even. Ever since then I have been afraid to go there. It’s the last bit of Krypton and I was afraid to confront my feelings about it. But after everything that has happened the past year I want to confront them and get over them. I need to learn to live with the loss and not let it drag me down and make me live in fear.”

 

Lena squeezes Kara’s shoulder and nods in understanding. “I’m proud of you Kara. I know it will be difficult to face your demons, but sometimes you need to do it. And I promise you, you will feel better after it.”

 

Kara lifts her arm and grabs Lena’s hand on her shoulder. They give each other a comforting squeeze and Kara loves these moments. “Thank you Lee. It will be difficult, but I need to do it. Afterwards I would also like to travel the world. Can you believe it? I can fly but have never been outside the US?”

 

Lena looks up a bit surprised. “Really? If I could fly and wasn’t afraid of heights I would travel everywhere. Why haven’t you?”

 

Kara sighs and looks uncomfortable. “Ever since I landed here everyone has been telling me to not use my powers. Sure, I sometimes uses heat or x-ray vision but not things like being fast and flying. That would be to visible. I only started using all my powers when I saved my sisters plane and since then I haven’t had the time to fly anywhere far. The furthest I went was to Metropolis to visit my cousin, but that was only once. There has only been one time I used my powers and that was when I was one year on earth. During the night I went flying with Alex and the same night the DEO came and took my stepfather.” Kara looked down dejectedly. ”He volunteered to help them otherwise they had taken me to experiment on. That was before the DEO became more humane and all the old hardliners left to go to Project Cadmus. A year after he was taken we were told he had died.  I have carried around the guilt of this since then. Only last year we learned he was still alive but a prisoner of Cadmus.”

 

Kara sat there with tears in her eyes and Lena could see the guilt on Kara’s face. She quickly threw her arms around Kara and gave her comforting hug. Kara had told her Lillian kept Kara’s father prisoner, but didn’t know the entire story. “I am so sorry Kara for what Lillian is doing and for the guilt you have been carrying. That can’t be easy. Have you ever talked with anyone about this? Like a professional? ”Lena questioned.

 

“No, I haven’t. How could I? If I went to a therapist I had to disclose I was an alien or that I was Supergirl. Both of which I was forbidden of doing. And therapists at the DEO are for employees only. If I wanted to use one of them I would have to sign up and then do what the government wants and I refuse to do that.” Lena nods in understanding as she would also be hesitant about that. “Even if I was allowed to use them without being employed I still would not have done that. They might say it is private, but we both know nothing about Supergirl or aliens is private if the government doesn’t want it to be.”

 

Lena understands the problem. “Maybe I can be of help? I know certain high profile therapists who work with high profile clients and they rely on privacy.”

 

“I will think about it. It might be nice at some point.” Kara said with a little smile. She knows Lena wants to help her and is grateful for it. She wants to help Kara with no strings attached. Something the DEO has never really done.

 

A few silent moments passed and Kara spoke again with a hopeful tone. “I think we have had enough emotional conversations yes? We have now planned several months ahead and I’d like to enjoy the last few relaxing vacation days before the pain train from Sara and Nyssa will arrive.

 

Lena chuckled at this. “I think we discussed enough indeed. Let’s just sit here, drink and eat a bit. Then later I will test if you secretly don’t like a bit of pain.” Lena said with a seductive wink.

 

Kara blushed and nearly chocked on her own tongue.


	9. A Suprise

At the DEO Winn had a continuous search going on for any and all references of Supergirl, Kara or Lena on social media. Every day it came up empty. There was no new information to be found.

 

Slowly but steadily people in National City began to notice that Supergirl hadn’t been seen for some time. It started slowly with some twitter posts, but it started becoming more. To diffuse the rumors J’onn had gone out several times posing as Supergirl, but people noticed there had been less sightings of her then normal.

 

It was during the afternoon that they heard the whooshing sound of a cape in the wind. Everyone looked expectantly at the balcony, but it was the wrong Super. Superman had flown in with not exactly a smile on his face. It was then that Winn decided he was needed in the server room several floors down and let Alex handle it.

 

“Alex. What is going on?” Superman spoke with his classic self-righteous tone.

 

“What do you mean? You came here” Alex said. She couldn’t pass up the chance to get under Clark’s skin. There was still some left over hurt from when he abandoned Kara at their house. Only now as she thought about it, it was another abandonment Kara had suffered through and her mood went down again.

 

“What I mean is why is J’onn posing as Kara. You know I can tell the difference in flight style. Did something happen to her?”

 

Alex sighed and knew where this was going. “Come with me to the conference room.” They walked in silence to the room, she closed the door behind them and turned to Clark. “Nothing happened to her. Not exactly anyway.” Clark looked skeptical at this and Alex continued. “Before we continue just know we all have been chewed out several times already and we don’t need another lecture.”

 

Clark nods at this and not likes what he has been hearing so far.

 

“The simple version is this. Kara has been dating Lena Luthor for 7 months and they have left National City, presumably to go to earth-1 where Barry is. They have been gone for nearly five weeks now and none of us even noticed she was gone until they were gone for two weeks. Before she left she resigned at CatCo, left her apartment and moved in with Lena. None of us even knew she was dating her.” Alex looked at Clark and saw shock, hurt, anger and sadness pass on his face. “Before you say anything, just watch this video she left for us. Kara had made this video for when we would notice her missing and Lucy gave it to us. Just watch it please.”

 

Clark sat down and watch the video on the DEO tablet. He didn’t know what to think as he watched the video. He was somewhat proud of her, but also had his doubts. When the video was done Alex gave him a small rundown of the meetings afterwards with Lucy and Eliza. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Clark processed what he had just heard.

 

“First of Alex, I’m not going to yell at you. From what you said people have been angry enough already and the message came across. But I must say, I’m not exactly sad she will work less with the DEO and with that the government. I never trusted them and I hoped for Kara things would have been different, but the government likes our help only if they can also take us down when they want to. They will never allow you to help protect her because of that.”

 

Alex nodded at this. She knows deep down that what Clark is saying is true, but it hurts to hear. Things have changed with J’onn and her at the helm of the DEO, but not at all locations and not at most positions in the government.

 

“And Alex, I must say I am surprised the is dating Lena Luthor of all people. Did you check her out? I am not sure I trust her with Kara. Sure, when they first met I noticed there was instant chemistry, but it is still a Luthor.”

 

Alex sighed. She knew this would come up as well. “I don’t know. She saved my life once and she saved every alien in National City. We made a profile of her when she arrived in NC and didn’t find anything troubling. But when they were just friends we all refused to meet her so I have never actually got to know her. From what Eliza and Lucy told us she is a really nice and caring person who is nothing like the media portray her to be. Her employees love her and from what I heard they also love Kara with her. I think I am going to trust Kara on this one. I hope to get back in her life when she returns and from what Eliza told us there is a good chance she will drop anyone who can’t accept Lena.”

 

“Okay. Is there an idea when they will return? “

 

“None,” Alex sighed.

 

“Okay then. I’m not sure what else to say. I think I’ll go back to Metropolis now. If you need help with anything just call me.” Clark said awkwardly and then left the DEO.

 

“Well, this was better than most reacted. Did not expect that.” Alex mumbled under her breath. She left the conference room and went back to work. 

 

 

\------------------------------- Earth 1 -------------------------------

 

It had been a grueling two weeks for Kara. Sara and Nyssa took turns training her on how to fight with sticks, a staff and/or shield. They trained and sparred for twelve hours a day. As a bonus they included some hand to hand combat to finish it off. She wouldn’t have found it too bad, but she was forced to wear her red sun bracelet to make it a fair fight. To say she was sore and tired was an understatement. Sure, she could heal and recharge when took the bracelet off, but that didn’t help during the training. What was an added bonus though was that her girlfriend seemed to be even more affectionate and spend a lot of time focusing on her arms and stomach, which she didn’t mind at all.   

 

Kara was nowhere close to beating her trainers, but she had made tremendous progress in the two weeks. Not only using the stick and shield, but also her movement and hand to hand combat had improved tremendously. Before, she could only train four hours a week and she learned what Alex knew. Now she was able to train with two very well trained woman, using different fighting style’s, who have learned and trained for at least a decade. Another positive point was that she could train without the pain of kryptonite radiation in the background. The idea for the red sun bracelet had been the best idea Lena ever had.

 

Lena on the other hand had enjoyed the stay of Sara and Nyssa on the island very much. The view during the training sessions wasn’t bad (watching Kara sweat and see that six pack move made her take multiple cold showers) and during the evenings they spend time together swimming, relaxing or just talking. Everyone got to know each other better and more friendships had grown out of it. After the first week Lena even took a few lessons on basic self-defense technique’s.

 

Two weeks after Sara and Nyssa had arrived Kara had flown them back to Star City. They wanted to spend one more night alone on the island enjoying each other.

 

It was the sunset of the last night on the island. They were having a romantic walk on the beach. Kara was wearing a navy blue bikini, together with her bracelet, while Lena was wearing a dark green one with a sarong in the same color. They strolled over the beach, hand in hand, when Lena suddenly stopped. Kara looked over to her side to see why Lena had stopped and she felt like she was hit by a lightning bolt. She never had seen something so ethereal as Lena looked at that moment. A orange glow of the sunset lit the sky up behind her while Lena was staring out over the sea. She could see that Lena was taking a couple of big breaths before she turned towards Kara and grabbed both of Kara’s hands. Kara relaxed as Lena looked at her with big soft  eyes and a nervous smile. Lena started to speak in a soft and loving manner.  

 

“Kara, my love. Today we have been dating for exactly 9 months and we have been friends for more than a year now. When you came in my life I was just climbing back from the low point in my life. Our first meeting at my office shook me to my core. We spoke just a few sentences, but I already fell a pull towards you back then. Then we started having lunches, dinners and movie nights. Things I never had or knew I wanted. Little by little I fell in love with you. Back then I didn’t have any idea how you felt and I was too afraid to ruin our friendship. Then exactly nine months ago you come stumbling into my office at a hour most people would be getting ready to go to bed. You started rambling adorably that you were Supergirl and that you had another thing to confess. I am so glad that you had the courage to tell me that you were in love with me and that you wanted to ask me out on a date, because I don’t think I would have taken the risk. Since that moment we have gotten closer and closer. Things have not always been easy with our long hours and busy jobs, but we still made sure to spend time together. You introduced me to Eliza, Lucy and the people on earth 1. I was hesitant at first, but after just one meeting I felt at ease with them. They didn’t judge me on my name, just like you hadn’t. In the short time I have known Eliza she has already been a better mother to me then Lillian has ever been. Lucy and the people here have become good friends at the same time. Around 4 months ago you unofficially moved in with me. Suddenly the penthouse became a home and I can say I have never slept better then when I sleep in your arms. The last 5 weeks we have been on this island together. It was just us, the island and the sea. We spend one on one time together, we had fun, we had deep conversations and we had nights where we just held each other. I never felt more at peace and I have fallen even more in love with you.”

 

Kara has tears in her eyes from this profession of Lena’s love for her. With watery eyes she sees that Lena lets go of her hands, walks away a few steps and picks something up from underneath a small rock. Lena walks back towards her and keeps one hand behind her back. With her empty hand she holds both Kara’s hands again. As she looks in Kara’s eyes she takes a big breath and  goes down on one knee. Kara’s eyes tear up even more as she think about what is going to happen.    

 

Softly Lena speaks again. “My dear Kara. You are the yin to my yang. You are my soulmate. Some people will say it is quick, but I have no doubt we are forever. You complete me and understand me like no one else. Nine months ago you had the courage to ask me out and this time I have the courage to do this. Kara, my love. Will you make me the happiest woman on two earths and marry me?”

 

Lena shows the hand behind her back and with one hand opens the jewelry box. Inside is a gorgeous ring with 5 sapphire’s. There are two blue stones next to each other and two green ones on the other side. Between the two colors is a slightly bigger cyan stone. Lena swallows and looks up towards Kara’s eyes.

 

For a moment Kara is awestruck as she sees the ring. It is absolutely gorgeous and the stones match their eye colors, while the center stone is the perfect mix of both colors. Coming out of her daze she sees Lena looking up expectantly. With tears in her eyes and her heart full of love Kara answers.

 

“Yes, Lee. Yes. I will marry you.”       

 

With wet eyes and trembling fingers Lena takes the ring out of the box and gently slides it over Kara’s left ring finger. She quickly stands up and both share a hot kiss that leaves no room to doubt it’s meaning. Releasing their lips Kara hugs Lena tightly and whispers in Lena’s ear.

 

“I love you with all my heart Lee and I will prove that every day. You are with no doubt the love of my life. Separate we are good, but together we are great. El Mayarah my love.”

 

They let go of one other and stand face to face. Kara holds Lena’s hands as they look into each other’s eyes. They both have big smiles and their hearts are pouring over with love. They have never been as happy as they are now. With a small head gesture and a confirmation from Lena they walk towards the wooden stairs and walk back to the house. It will be a long and romantic night, but in the best possible way.

 

 

It was near noon the next morning that Kara and Lena woke up. They had fallen asleep when the sun was coming up already, but both were content and happy. They snuggled together under the covers and whispered loving words to each other. Kara had her head laying under Lena’s chin as they were overthinking the previous evening.

 

“Lee, I must admit I hadn’t seen this one coming. When did you know you were going to propose to me?”

 

Lena stroked Kara’s hair as she thought it over. “I think I knew I wanted to marry you before you unofficially moved in, but two weeks before our vacation I gathered all my courage and decided I wanted to propose to you during our vacation. First I made a quick trip to Midvale to ask Eliza for permission to marry you. I must admit, I was scared out of my mind doing it, but she gave her blessing without any doubts. I made her promise to keep it a secret though because I didn’t know when I was going to propose. Then I send the L-Corp jet to pick up Lucy in Washington so she and Sam could help me find a ring. When we were at the 2nd jeweler we all pointed to the same one at the same time. It is the one you are wearing now, only now it has stones with the color of our eyes.” There was a comfortable moment of silence as Lena kissed Kara’s head, who made a happy moaning sound as a result of this. With a small smile Lena resumed her story.

 

“I was still thinking about when I wanted to propose when we arrived on this earth. I was leaning towards doing it on our earth during the second part of our holiday, but then we extended our stay here and I decided to propose on the last night. Deep in the night after you had called Barry to confirm the training I kinda took your phone and called him in the middle of the night. I asked him if he could buy two small camera’s so I could record the proposal and he smuggled them here in Sara’s baggage. They were hanging on the beach last night as I proposed.”

 

Kara took in a sharp breath as she heard the last part of the story. “Lee, that is so romantic. I love that you thought about that. Now I also know why you wanted me to wear the bracelet. It was so I couldn’t find the jewelry box or the camera’s wasn’t it?”

 

“Yeah it was.” Lena answered softly.

 

“Do you also have a ring?” Kara murmured with her head still under Lena’s chin.

 

“I have one in the safe at L-Corp. It is the same one as you have, but the blue and green stones are switched. I will get it when we are back home.

 

“Great. I was hoping you had a ring for you as well. But you do know we have to change our return plans right? Kara asked.

 

Lena looked a bit surprised at this and asked in surprise. “Why have our plans changed?”

 

“Well, I was thinking we could ask Cisco to open a breach to Midvale? I would like to see Eliza for a bit and show her something. You know, something that is round and is currently around my finger? ” Kara said suggestively.

 

Lena chuckled. “Yeah, I think we can do that.”

 

They laid in bed, curled up together, for another half an hour just enjoying each other’s company. However  soon it was time to get out of bed. Together they took a long shower and ate a big breakfast. Lena got the camera’s from the beach and they spend some time packing their bags which were now filled with clothes and a lot of souvenirs. Kara flew the bags to the mainland where Barry picked them up and ran them to Star Labs. It was close to three when Kara and Lena shared one final kiss on the deck of the house before Kara flew them back to Central City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expected or unexpected?
> 
> When i started with this story i hadn't planned this. But then i arrived at this chapter and a few hours later i had written this and needed to redo my plans for the next chapters :P.


	10. Upgrades

Kara flew both of them back to Central City and landed a couple of blocks away from Star Labs. She put Lena down on the ground and softly asked her to open her eyes. As Lena did that she noticed they weren’t at the lab yet.

 

“Kar, why are we in some kind of dirty alley instead of Star Labs?”

 

Kara started to blush and looked to the ground as she mumbled. “I wanted to walk into the building with my fiancée and not just fly in and land in an old garden.”

 

Lena was incredibly touched by this and reached for Kara’s hand. “I’d love to walk into the building with my fiancée. It also gives me some time to get my balance back. I really am not good with flying,” she chuckled. “Come on, let’s go.”

 

They walked hand in hand the last few blocks to Star Labs. It was a nice sunny summers day and not to warm. Much better than the humid heat of National City. It was a comfortable walk with some window shopping on the side. They approached the back entrance of Star Labs and both Kara and Lena got their iris scanned in order to enter. Walking through a few empty offices they approached the flash cave.

 

Suddenly out of nowhere there was a red flash and Kara’s left hand was raised. In the matter of milliseconds after her hand was raised Kara was enveloped in a massive bear hug by Barry. “Congratulations Kara. I see Lena has made a honest alien out of you.” He said with a wink. He released Kara from his hug and gave another bear hug, but this time he gave it to Lena.

 

“Yes, she did Barry.” Kara finally managed to say now that she was released.

 

“And you Lena, also congratulations.”. He releases Lena from the hug and all of them have massive smiles on their faces. Barry still wasn’t finished though. He points at both of them and fondly glares. “All of us expect an invite to the wedding. No eloping for the two of you. Superhero weddings are rare and we need to stick together. You were invited to Iris and mine, so we expect you return the favor.“

 

“Yes Barry. We will invite all of you.” Lena said with a happy smile. “And again, thank you for getting those camera’s. I recorded the proposal so prepare to see a video in the near future.”

 

“I’ll hold you two to that. But right now I think we should go to Cisco’s lab. You probably want to show off that ring of yours on your earth. But before you do that we have something for you. Are you ready to see your new suit and some new tech?

 

“Oh, you bet I am ready. I have been excited for days. Just lead the way.       

 

After a short walk they walked into Cisco’s lab and they saw a mannequin with a white sheet over it. But before Kara could X-Ray vision it another round of congratulations came from Cisco and Caitlyn. Especially Caitlyn wanted to have a good look at the ring. Spending a few minutes describing the proposal and showing the rings they went straight to business. It was Cisco who started.

 

“Before I show you the suit, Caitlyn and me will explain a bit about our Kryptonite problem solutions. I’ll start with my technological solution.” Cisco walks towards his desk and grabs a small cube from the table. “This cube is my solution. It is small, but it works great. I call it Kryptolize. What it does it negates the frequency of kryptonite and neutralizes it. But the best part is that it is harmless to you and to normal humans. So you can wear a cube like this in some jewelry and you are protected. This small cube has a range of about 5 meters and it makes any kryptonite in that range instantly harmless. So if someone shoots at you with a kryptonite bullet, it is harmless the moment it enters the shield. These cubes don’t need to recharge or anything and should always work. It works on green, red and synthetic kryptonite and it should also work on other colors. The samples you gave had frequencies close to one other and that makes the difference between green or red. So the cube neutralizes everything around those frequencies. That should take care of other colors if there are any.”

 

“So far I have placed one of the cubes inside the heel of your new boot and I made a smaller one with 2 meters range that you can wear on something like a necklace or bracelet. There are a few used inside the fabric of the suit as bonus protection. Those are not cubes, but more like paper. And just so you know, if you need any more of these, just give me a heads up and I can make more.”

 

Both Kara and Lena are dumbfounded that it works that well. Kara had not expected something so simple. “Cisco, Thank you. This is awesome. It should help me a lot in my fights. I can’t thank you enough for this.”

 

“Your welcome Kara, but there is another solution. I’ll let Caitlyn explain this one.”

 

Everyone turns to Caitlyn who looks a uncomfortable with all attention turned to her. She grabs two small testing tubes from the table and shows these to Kara and Lena.

 

“Well. My solution is more as a last resort should Cisco’s fail. The white solution in this test tube are  modified white blood cells from the blood Kara gave us. These cell’s I have adapted to eat kryptonite. Normally it attacks viruses or bacteria, but these attack kryptonite. This needs to be injected into your bloodstream and works within seconds. In the other tube is a slightly yellow solution which I have called liquid sunshine. The liquid is radiated with a massive dose of yellow sun radiation. It basically is the reverse of your red sun bracelet. This liquid will give you an instant power boost to help fight kryptonite and it should give you a healing boost. It will also help to recharge your system if you have solar flared. It will kick start your system and your powers will return within minutes instead of days. Another bonus of liquid sunshine is that the power boost should be enough to temporarily overcome the power of red sun. If someone uses red sun technology on you and you inject this, you will have about a minute of powers under the red sun. That way you might be able to escape.”

 

“Oh wow. Thank you so much Caitlyn. I hope to never need the white blood cells, but it will be good to have a backup. The liquid sunshine looks like an awesome material. Thank you.” Kara said looking awe struck and happy. She knew all these things were going to be a life changer for her.

 

“Your welcome Kara. But now I’ll let Cisco talk again. I think he has something to reveal.” Caitlyn said and was glad the spotlight was of off her.

 

Cisco walks over to the covered mannequin and he grabs the corner of the sheet. “So. Are you ready?”

 

Kara nods and so does Lena. Both are excited and Kara hasn’t released Lena’s hand so far. Lena is already insanely grateful for the kryptonite solutions, but all that will be coming is just icing on the cake.

 

Cisco removes the sheet and on the mannequin is a gorgeous new suit. Both Kara and Lena’s mouth fall open at the sight of the new suit. Kara looks mesmerized and Lena gets a faint blush on her cheeks.

 

“Well, ”Cisco says with a smile. “It looks like you both like the suit. Allow me to explain. This suit has the same dark blue and red color that you use now, but the red is used a bit less than before since the skirt is gone. There are red stripes on the side of your legs, your arms and down the side of your chest. Other places are your coat of arms, the stitching and off course the cape. Instead of normal pants and jacket, I went with a jumpsuit style. Having it separate is not an good idea when you fight a lot. To reduce drag it’s a fairly tight fit and it helps to give enemy’s less chance to get a hold of you. And since you now have pants I have made your boots lower and they stay under the knee, which helps with mobility. Your coat of arms is still on the chest, just a smidge smaller and I made a high collar. That makes the suit look more elegant. The sleeves extend the entire arm and you can finish it with or without gloves. So, what do you think?”

 

“It look great Cisco. Maybe they will start calling me Superwoman after this. It looks a lot more mature.” Kara said with a smile. She was thrilled at how the new suit looked.

 

“Thank you. But there is more. The suit is made of a Kevlar composite that feels and looks a bit like leather. It can withstand fire, freezing and doesn’t conduct electricity. But it is also bulletproof, stab proof and tear resistant. And as I said before there is also some of the Kryptolize in the suit as an added protection.”

 

Cisco points down towards the belt of the suit. “The belt isn’t just an aesthetic thing. It has plastic restraints, but also extra strong ones and it holds another new thing I added.“ Cisco takes a step back to his workstation and grabs something that looks like a hockey puck. He shows them the item and points to the ones on the belt. ”These things that are mounted on the back of the belt are Kryptolize and yellow sun grenades.” Kara gasps suddenly as she hears this. ”The Kryptolize grenades neutralize all Kryptonite within two hundred meters and the sun grenades works within fifty meters. The sun grenades can be used when you fight underground or away from sunlight. I have several more grenade designs with like E.M.P’s, Tasers and flashbangs. I haven’t included these since you can only carry a limited amount, but if you need them I can provide them. There is one important thing and that is that you retrieve the grenades after use. I can reuse them and the tech should not fall into the wrong hands.”

 

Both Kara and Lena were staring at Cisco again utterly flabbergasted, but Kara nodded at Cisco’s request.

 

Cisco removes the belt from the mannequin and he shows them the inside of the belt. Barely visible they see storage compartment. “Also on the belt are two epi pens that contain Caitlyn’s solutions. The diamond tip is treated with red sun radiation so it can get in your skin. One epi pen contains the kryptonite and sunshine solution while the other one only has the sunshine. They are made of plastic and are protected within the belt. If you have used the pens, please retrieve them too.“

 

“Then on to the staff and shield.” Cisco lifted the cape up and they finally see the shield. It is the same color blue as the suit, it has a red edge and a large House of El coat of arms in the middle. “The shield you carry under the cape and is hung over your shoulder with leather strap. The two kali sticks are mounted within the shield and you can choose to use just one or you can use both at the same time or screw them together and have a bo-staff. If you want you can also hang the sticks on your left hip, but it would quickly be a nuisance in any other situation than fighting.” Cisco thinks for a moment and then he lights up. “I have two more things to show you.” Cisco grabs two other items from the table. “First, there is this watch. It looks like a normal watch and you can wear it when you are being Kara, but inside it there is a small piece of Kryptolize with a range of 2 meters. Also there is some of Caitlyn’s solution inside. If you press a certain combination it injects the cells while with another combination it injects the sunshine.”

 

“Now the last thing. I will show you, but first I need your red sun bracelet.”

 

Kara looked over towards Lena as she was the one with the bracelet. Lena started to blush and searches her handbag. Quickly she found the lead container that holds the bracelet. She takes the bracelet out and hands it to Cisco.

 

“Thank you. Now the last item is a new red sun bracelet. I have added a timer to it and made it that it only gives out radiation when it’s closed. Now you don’t need the lead box anymore to hold the bracelet. When you close it the radiation will work for a maximum of two hours. If that time expires it will automatically disable and your powers will be restored. If you need more time you need open and relock it. I have done this in the case someone finds out about the bracelet and has you captured with it. It should be a lot safer this way.”

 

He gives the new bracelet to Lena who quickly places it in her handbag.

 

“That was it. Do you ha………” Was all Cisco could say before he had a very happy Kryptonian hanging around his neck.

 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh my Rao. I hadn’t expected this much. Thank you so much.” Kara finally let go of a now blushing Cisco. She went on to thank Caitlyn and Barry while Lena also was thanking the people. When Lena reached Barry she whispered in his ear, “sent the bill for all this to me please. And if you guys ever need anything, just ask.” Barry nodded at this.

 

Cisco looked at the very happy Kara and there was one more thing left to do.

 

“Kara, why don’t you put the new suit on? Let’s see if it fits. And don’t worry about the toys. I have put all of them and a spare suit in a crate that you can take with you when you go. I just need to add the shield to it and it is done. What do you say?”

 

“I’d love to. Be right back.” There was a sudden gush of wind and the mannequin and Kara had disappeared.         

 

“Nine months,” Lena sighs. “Nine months and I’m still not used to that.

 

“Yeah, it took us quite a while as well to adapt to Barry” Caitlyn confirms. “Just be happy you are not used to having a stack of loose papers on your desk.”

 

They all chatted for a couple of minutes as they waited for Kara to return and in the meantime Cisco placed the last items in the crate. When they heard footsteps outside the door they turned around and saw Kara standing there. Lena’s breath got stuck in her throat and another blush came up. Kara looked insanely hot. From behind her she heard Caitlyn and Cisco muttering a soft ‘damn’.

 

Kara stood a bit awkwardly in the door as the people turned around. She didn’t miss their responses and her confidence grew. The new suit was comfortably tight and accentuated her curves, but she still looked professional and mature. It fitted her like a glove and was easy to put on.

 

“I love it Cisco. It fits perfectly. And it was also a lot easier to put on then the previous suit. It’s really soft on the inside as well. Again. Thank you so much.”

 

“Your welcome.” Cisco answered.

 

Lena looked at Kara in that suit and it did things to her. Things she didn’t want to feel in the middle of Star Labs. She quickly shoved those thoughts aside. ”What do you think about keeping the new suit on and walking out in Eliza’s home like that? I think she will get a kick out of it.”

 

“Oh my Rao. That is an awesome idea Lee. Let me get the clothes I had on and put them in a suitcase. Barry, can you help getting the suitcases back to my world quickly? I’ll lift the crate.”

 

“Sure. No problem.” Barry answered. ”Where do you want to go to?”

 

Kara thought it over for a moment. “Cisco, Do you think you can open a breach in my old bedroom in Midvale?”

 

“I should be able to. Are you guys ready to go?”

 

“Oh yes. I think it is time to go back. What do you say Lee? Ready to go?”

 

Lena nodded and everyone said goodbye to each other. Both Lena and Barry grabbed a few bags and suitcases while Cisco opened the breach to earth 38. Kara picked up the crate and they all walked through to the other side. It was a minute later that Barry returned and the breach closed behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suit inspiration: Pretty much a copy of Imra's suit on Supergirl, but in the Supergirl colors. I don't know why, but i really really like Imra's suit. A lot more mature then a skirt and looks a lot more 'woman'.


	11. Return To Home

Eliza pulled up into her drive way after an afternoon of shopping and running errands. She had gotten back from National City two weeks ago and needed to do a bit of catching up. She got out of her car and walked a couple of steps towards the mailbox and took out a stack of magazine’s and mail. She was browsing the envelops when she opened the kitchen door and stepped inside. She walked through the kitchen towards the living room when she saw two woman sitting at the kitchen table.

 

“Hey Kara, Hi Lena.” Eliza said as she walked to the living room. She was just about to enter it when she suddenly froze, dropped her mail on the floor and turned around fast. When Kara and Lena saw her turning and saw the look of surprise on her face they burst out in laughing.

 

“Oh my god Eliza. The look on your face.” Lena managed to wheeze out during her laughing fit.

 

“Wait, what? How? You guys are back? Come here and give me a hug. Come here you two.” Eliza was incredibly excited and happy that they had finally returned. Both Kara and Lena quickly stood up and Eliza ended up hugging them both for a long time, but Kara a bit longer. She released Kara from the hug and grabbed her shoulders. She looked intensely at Kara and Kara new Eliza was studying her. Eliza also took a good look at Lena and she was thrilled at how they both looked.

 

“Kara you look absolutely radiant. You look relaxed, healthy and happy. And so do you Lena. I take it your impromptu vacation was a good idea?” Eliza was beaming and so glad they looked healthy and happy.

 

Kara was happy and could hardly contain her excitement. “It was the best. We had a great time. And I have something to show you.”

 

Kara slowly stuck her left hand out and Eliza looked down at it. She saw what she had hoped for ever since Lena came by to ask for her permission. Eliza felt so happy right now. “Oh, Kara. That ring is gorgeous. Congratulations honey. And congratulations to you as well Lena.” Eliza gave both of them another hug and she couldn’t keep her eyes dry anymore. With tears in her eyes she said, “You know, I always have been afraid that you wouldn’t find someone to spend your life with. I know how difficult it was for you to fit in, that you still feel like you don’t and that it causes you  to have trouble making friends. But this is all I ever wanted for you. Someone nice and caring who loves you and brings out the best in you. And you couldn’t do any better than with Lena. I love you both. And I guess I  have another daughter to look after now.”

 

There was another group hug and not a single dry eye in the house. Lena had not expected that Eliza would say that and was incredibly touched to be considered a daughter. A year ago she never had hoped someone would love her or look past her name and now she is engaged and her fiancées mother loves her. They released each other and Kara and Lena sat back down at the table with big happy smiles. Eliza walked to the kitchen and with shaking hands filled another cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table with her daughter and soon to be daughter in law.

 

“So, how did the proposal go? Where was it? And I also would like to know how you got in the house by the way.” Eliza was eager to hear the details but she also wanted to make sure Kara didn’t have to fear anything for the way she left. “And you don’t have to filter out anything. I know what has happened and why you left. And no, I don’t blame you for not telling me. I know why you haven’t and I am touched you tried to keep my relation with Alex good.”

 

Kara looked incredibly relieved at that and it broke Eliza’s hart a little bit. But she could see the vacation had done both of them a lot of good.

 

“Well, first of all thank you for not being angry with me. And as to the proposal, it is a bit of a long story. As you might have guessed, we went on holiday to Barry’s earth. We were allowed to stay at a private tropical island owned by Barry’s very rich friend Oliver, who is a hero on that earth. We were the only people on that island and it was gorgeous there. Big modern house, white beaches, tropical fruits, the works. We stayed there for three weeks and were planning on coming back, but I got an offer from some other heroes for some training. They came to the island and we trained for two weeks. They left yesterday and we decided to stay one more night on the island. It was last night at sunset that Lena proposed to me.” Kara had a dreamy look in her eyes and so did Lena. Eliza could see they were reliving the moment in their minds and she smiled at how they looked.

 

Lena was the first one to come out of her daydream and said, “but instead of telling you, would you like to see it? I actually placed two camera’s at the spot I was planning to propose and recorded it. If you can give me your laptop I can show it.”

 

“That would be amazing. It’s great that you thought about recording it. Let me get it for you.” Eliza got up and got her laptop from her study. Lena connected the camera to the laptop and retrieved the video file. They sat the laptop a bit back on the table and they all sat down next to each other as Lena started the video.

 

As they were watching Eliza again got tears in her eyes. The scenery was stunning and proposing during the sunset on a beach looked incredibly romantic. Then she heard Lena’s speech and a smile grew on her face. She could feel the meaning behind it, how heartfelt it was and it blew her away. She was so happy for Kara and Lena. If there were two people who deserved the best it was them. The only thing that got her down a bit was when she thought that Alex wasn’t here to see or hear this.

 

“That was so romantic and heartfelt Lena. Please give me a copy when you can.” Eliza asked still with tears in her eyes.

 

“I will Eliza. No problem.”

 

Kara got up and went to the kitchen to get refills for everyone, She also went and got some food for herself. She sat back down at the table when Eliza asked, “How did you get in the house by the way. The door was closed?”

 

Kara scratched behind her head and looked a bit guilty. “I wanted to surprise you so when we left earth 1 I asked Cisco if he could open a breach into my bedroom. At the moment there are several suitcases, bags and a crate there. When we went downstairs to surprise you, you weren’t here so we decided to wait till you got home.”

 

“Only you Kara, only you.” Eliza said with a little laugh. “And what is it that you are wearing? Is that a new suit? It looks incredible on you. You look more like a SuperWoman then SuperGirl in this.” Eliza had taken several good looks at the new suit and she thought it looked great on her. She looked a lot more mature.

 

Kara beamed at Eliza’s approval but in order to explain she needed to know how much she knew about the situation she left behind. “Thank you. And yes, it is a brand new suit. Only put it on two hours ago and I really like it. Its fits perfectly, feels nice and has some new features. But in order to explain it I have to ask you how much you know about why I left.” Kara looked unsure, but based on what Eliza had said earlier she knew what was going on.

 

Eliza looked softly at Kara as she could see the doubt going through her eyes. “I know everything. I’ve seen your video and spoken to Lucy when I was in National City. And I don’t blame you not telling me about your problems. I know you were protecting Alex and mine relationship. But I understand now why you left and what is going on. I have to say I am proud of you for taking this step. It couldn’t have been easy and I know you struggle with loss and abandonment, but I am glad you took steps to take a break and get away.” Eliza looked over to a concerned Lena. “And thank you Lena for helping her with this. From what you have told me about your life I know you know what she is going through. So thank you.”

 

Lena nodded as she understood where Eliza came from and she was glad Eliza knew everything now. She knew why Kara had kept her out of it before, but she also knew Eliza suspected that there was something going on.

 

Kara looked relieved at hearing her stepmother understanding her problems an being proud of how she handled it. “Since you know everything I can explain it easier. The tech guy and researcher on earth 1 has made a lot of suits for the heroes on that earth. He has made close to a dozen different suits and he develops tech for it. I have seen nothing happening at the DEO in regards to helping me or going after the growing Kryptonite problem so I asked them for help. I went out to Smallville one night with a lead bag and got a large sample of green Kryptonite. A couple of months before we left I had a fight with Cadmus soldiers and they fired synthetic Kryptonite at me. A few of those bullets I swapped away in a lead pouch before the DEO could take them. The most difficult was getting my hands on red Kryptonite. To do it safe I actually had Barry come here and he managed to phase through a wall at the DEO vault and grab a sample. He immediately took all samples and a few vials of my blood with him so they could do some research. It wasn’t long before Cisco already had found a solution to neutralize Kryptonite. A biochemist on their team has also done research and managed to make other options.”

 

Kara had watched Eliza’s face as she told this part of the story and could see multiple emotions flaring up. There was pride, happiness, anger and worry. She knew the anger was aimed at the DEO and she could see the worry flare up when she described how she got the Kryptonite. But Kara wasn’t done yet.

 

“This new suit is made by Cisco and he has integrated some new tech in this suit. His tech negates the Kryptonite frequencies and any kryptonite getting within 5 meters is instantly and permanently neutralized. That cube is located in my boot. Inside the fabric of the suit are sheets of that material as backup and that has a range of two meters. He also made jewelry from it for when I am in normal clothing. Caitlyn made a injectable fluid that eats Kryptonite if it has entered me somehow and another fluid that is called liquid sunshine. It is a fluid radiated with a large amount of yellow sun radiation. It should give me a power boost, healing boost and can reverse a flare.”

 

Eliza didn’t know what she heard. She could see the happiness in Kara and Lena’s eyes when she described the anti-Kryptonite solutions and she was extremely happy that they had such smart friends who care for her. When Kara paused to let Eliza process she asked,  “do you think I can see those things later?”

 

“Sure. Almost everything is in the crate in my room. There is even more though. This suit is fire, cold, bullet, stab and tear proof. Upstairs is the belt that goes with the suit and that contains Caitlyn’s solution, cuffs and a few special grenades. One type of grenade contains Cisco’s anti-kryptonite tech and neutralizes all kryptonite within 200 meters and another type is a yellow sun grenade. So if I fight at night or underground I can recharge my powers during the fight. Then there are two more things but I think I better show those. I’ll be right back.”

 

In a flash Kara was gone and a second later she was back again. What Eliza saw was unbelievable. Her daughter looked like a warrior now with a shield and bo-staff. She finally had proper help and equipment. She shed a few more tears and couldn’t contain a happy smile.

 

“This shield and staff are made of something called dwarf star alloy. It’s one of the toughest and rarest materials on earth 1. The shield I can use to deflect energy weapons like plasma rifles or lasers and the staff I can use to fight with instead of my fists. The staff can also be separated to have two Kali sticks. This staff and the shield were the reasons we were away two additional weeks. Two of their heroes who have been using this and a lot of other weapons had decades worth of training and they gave me a crash course. 14/7 for two weeks. What do you think?” Kara asked shyly.    

 

“I am so proud of you Kara. I am glad you got more help and got away from the DEO. They will never help you. J’onn might want to, but higher ups will always want to have a way to take you down. I support this new look of yours wholeheartedly.”

 

“Thank you. It means a lot.” Kara said genuinely. “Also, I wanted to ask you if we could stay here for a few days. We will be doing some more traveling and just need to catchup on some things. I want to go see Lucy and Lena wants to see if there are things her CFO needs her to do before we go again. Also I think we have some more things to discuss about what has happened.”

 

“No problem. You know you two can stay here as long as you want. And I think we do need to discuss some more things. But I must say, you have really matured the last few months. I’m so proud of you Kara.” Eliza held Kara’s hand softly when she confirmed they could stay and she could see both Kara and Lena getting a bit tired. “With you two staying I’m going out and get some more food. If you want the both of you can go take a nap in the meantime. It looks like you two hardly had any sleep last night.   

 

Eliza saw two blushing faces that caused her to chuckle. She grabbed her keys on the way out and went to get some more groceries.

 

 

It was a couple of hours later when Eliza entered Kara’s room. She gently opened the door and she smiled at the sight before her eyes. On the bed the newly engaged couple had fallen asleep holding hands and with Kara being the big spoon. She gently got her phone from her pocket and quickly made a picture of the sight. She had a feeling she might need it someday. She gently said their names and they slowly woke up from their nap.

 

As Kara slowly opened her eyes she saw Eliza smiling down at them. It was when Eliza said that she had already cooked dinner and baked a surprise that suddenly there was just Lena left in bed. Both of them chuckled and they made their way downstairs in an attempt to actually eat some food before a hungry Kryptonian ate it all.

 

After dinner Lena had called Sam to catch up and ask if there was some work that she needed to do.. There was nothing big, just a few papers and proposals that were waiting for her. Lena told Sam to overnight a tablet to her with the work and she would do it before the 2nd part of the vacation. She also made the small request that Sam send her engagement ring with the tablet. Lena could have sworn she heard Sam’s squeal all the way in Midvale.  

 

That evening they all sat together in the living room discussing everything that had happened and what Kara had gone through. It was a difficult and sometimes painful conversation, but they had to have it at some point and Kara wanted to have it before they went away again. Eliza told them what had happened and how she found out they were gone. She didn’t hold any ill feelings that Kara hadn’t said anything about leaving or what had been bothering her. Eliza told them that she had gone to National City and had seen the video, which she complemented Kara on because she was proud that Kara said what was bothering her instead of holding it in like she had always done. She mentioned that she had spoken to Lucy and that she met with all of them at the DEO and had tried to set them straight.

 

Kara was touched that Eliza had done that, but she told her that she didn’t had to do that and she shouldn’t worsen her relationship with Alex for her. Eliza explained what had happened at both meetings and Kara was a bit surprised at some of the reactions, but some she had expected.

 

It was already past twelve when they called it a night. Kara let them know that she was planning on visiting Lucy that morning while Lena was expecting an early delivery with her work tablet. Eliza was the first to go upstairs to her bedroom to go to sleep. Kara and Lena stayed cuddled up for an hour more before going to bed as well.  

 

It was late in the morning when Kara arrived in Washington. She had texted Lucy that she was on route and if she would open a window for her. Kara flew into the apartment wearing her old Supergirl suit and she flew straight into Lucy’s bedroom to change. When the blonde came out in her normal clothes she instantly went in for the hug.

 

“Lucy, it’s so good to see you. How have you been?” Kara released Lucy from her hug and they both set down on the couch. Lucy had gotten her a fresh jumbo cup of coffee and a lot of sticky buns from a local business.  

 

“I’ve been great Kara. How was your vacation? Anything good happen?” Lucy smirked. She took a good look at Kara and she notices how happy and healthy she looked again. Just like the old days, but even better. She could see the growth and the maturity that had taken hold in the last moths, had stayed.

 

“Oh, you know damn well that something good happened.” Kara sarcastically said. ”Don’t think I didn’t see you check out my left hand when I landed and I know you spend some time with Lena and Sam a few weeks before we left. But if you want to, you can look.” Kara stuck her hand out proudly showing of her engagement ring.

 

“It’s absolutely gorgeous Kara. I’m so happy for you. You know, I had seen the ring already and the separate stones, but not the final product. It looks beautiful. How did Lena propose?”

 

“I will say she proposed on the beach on the last evening we were there and nothing else. Lena had the brilliant idea to record it so I will show you the video the next time.” Lucy watched as Kara’s eyes glazed over and she knew Kara was reliving that moment.

 

“I’ll hold you to that. So, where have you been? You have bene gone a while.”

 

“As you might have guessed we went to Barry’s earth.” Lucy nodded at that. “Oliver Queen, a fellow hero had set us up at his private tropical island. It was five weeks of sun, beach and relaxation. It was heavenly. Although two of those weeks I spent training with a couple of former assassins. They taught me some new moves.”

 

With a wink Lucy said, “Oh, I bet they did.” Kara blushed at the innuendo.

 

“Not like that you perv.” Kara said as she gently slapped Lucy on her arm. “Let’s just say I have a few surprises up my sleeve the next time I have to go out and fight something. The heroes on the other earth like me and hooked me up with some things.”

 

“That’s great Kara. If the government doesn’t want to help you, you have to do it alone. They might not like it, but I understand and I’ll try to help you.” Lucy said sincerely. “What are your plans now that you are back?”

 

“Well, we came back yesterday afternoon and we are going to have another vacation starting tomorrow, but this time on this earth, for a few more weeks.” Lucy nods in understanding. “But before we went away again Lena wanted to catch up on some work things and I wanted to visit you.”

 

Lucy slaps Kara’s arm in jest as she says, “Oh, you like me.”

 

Kara rolls her eyes at Lucy. “You know I do.” Kara’s face went more serious when she turned a bit to Lucy. “Eliza filled us in on what has happened when we were away. On the Island Lena and I had a good talk about our future and as I said in the video I am going to take a step back. Today I am going to finish my letter to the people of National City explaining my semi-retirement and I’m going to ask Lois to publish it in the Daily Planet.”

 

Lucy pulled an ugly face at the mention of her sisters name, but she was more interested in what Kara was saying. “You are not sending it to CatCo?”

 

Kara sighed with a sad frown. “No, this time not. Ever since Cat left it has not been the same at CatCo. Let’s just say I don’t trust James to publish it or not to edit it. I trust Lois more than James right now.”

 

“Okay, I can understand that. Just a tip, keep the letter hopeful and try to keep it a bit general so nobody can trace it back to you. You and Lena together will come out at some point so don’t go into real specifics.”

 

“I won’t. I had already thought about that. But I might explain some things that have been bothering me.” Lucy nodded in understanding. “If you don’t mind, what do you say we go get some lunch and we do some more catching up? After that I’ll fly back and finish my letter.”

 

Lucy looked at Kara in surprise “Lunch? You just ate almost ten sticky buns…”

 

Kara put on her pout and looks at Lucy with sad puppy dog eyes. It’s Super effective.

 

Lucy’s resistance crumbles and she points at Kara. “Fine, Lunch it is. But you are paying. I know Lena stashed a black card in that wallet of yours.”

 

Kara’s eyes light up and she is already waiting at the door before Lucy can even get up. Soon they are out the door.

 

 

The rest of the day was uneventful. Kara had flown back and spend the Saturday afternoon writing while Lena was going through her L-Corp work. That evening they discussed and finalized their trip itinerary for the following weeks. They decided to take a private jet for the flight portions of their trip and that they were going go Sunday evening to their first destination. Kara spend the rest of the evening flying back to National city, under the cover of darkness, to get some more clothing for both of them. The next morning Kara read her letter to Lena and Eliza, asking them for their opinion. They agreed it was a good letter and both teared up at what they had heard. Lena knew what was going to be in it, but Eliza was blindsided and she felt a sharp pain hearing what Kara had never told anyone before. That afternoon Kara decided to bite the bullet and she flew to Metropolis and visited her cousin and his wife.

 

The visit was certainly memorable. She had learned that Clark had visited the DEO after finding out it was J’onn flying and not her. They talked a lot about the video, his talk with Alex and also about what she was going to do in the future. At that moment they also learned that Lena had proposed and Kara was going to get married. While she received an instant hug and congratulations from Lois who wanted to see the ring she could see that Clark held back. A not so gentle reminder that he then should find a divorce lawyer because he married the daughter of a bigoted alien hater that tortured her aunt shut him up. She also asked if she could visit the fortress at some point in the coming weeks to face some of her demons and after how he had reacted to the Lena news he quickly agreed to it and explained how to get there. She also told him that she had some surprises for him when they come back and that he should try to keep as safe as possible for now and take no unnecessary risks. He was surprised about this, but he promised to be a bit more careful.

 

It was late in the afternoon when Kara did what she came to do and asked Lois to publish a letter in the Daily Planet. That got the both of them quiet before Lois asked to read the Letter. After reading it Lois agreed to publish it and made sure it would be front page in the National City edition the next day. After getting another hug from Lois and a full on Kryptonian hug from Clark she went back to Midvale.

 

Eliza had prepared a big dinner for that night and after dinner Eliza drove them to a nearby private airport where the private jet was waiting. After several hugs and goodbye’s they stepped into the plane and went on their way.

 

 

It was the next morning when Winn arrived at the DEO. Like every day he turned on all the screens at his workstation. Before sitting down he went for a quick cup of terrible machine coffee and then he was ready to start his work day.

 

Winn sat down and watched his screens. “So, nothing major has happened last night,” he mumbled to himself. He turned over to the screen on the farthest left. The coffee nearly shot of his nose as he saw there were thousands upon thousands of tweets and posts about Supergirl. He was hoping Kara had returned and quickly dragged his search application to his main screen and he immediately saw what people were talking about.

 

**Daily Planet**

EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS: Supergirl to semi-retire from the superhero business. _Read her letter in our paper or on our website….._     

 

A loud “shit” went through the command center and he nearly tipped over his coffee grabbing his phone. He had a few important calls to make.


	12. The Letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a large chapter, so a midweek post again :P

Alex had just walked into the DEO when she got a call from Winn.

 

“Hey Winn, whats up?” Alex answered her phone.

 

_“Get to the DEO now. There is news about Kara.”_

 

Alex her heart sped up a bit thinking that maybe Kara was back. “I just walked in Winn. Where are you?”

 

_“At the ops center.”_ Winn immediately hung up and waited for Alex and J’onn to arrive. J’onn had been in one of the sublevels of the DEO and was coming to the ops center as well.

 

After a few minutes both walked in. “What is it Winn. What news do you have?’ J’onn asked.

 

Winn points over at the main ops screen as both Alex and J’onn turn their heads to look at it. There was a sudden gasp from Alex as she read the title and now knew that what Kara had insinuated in the video was real.

 

“Winn, can you please open the article? I want to read it.” Alex asked.

 

“Sure. There it is now.” Winn had opened the article and J’onn and Alex started to read it. They needed to know what it said and if damage control is needed.    

 

_Dear people of National City,_

_I have written this letter to let you know I will be semi-retiring from the superhero business. What that means is that I have decided to limit my help to (worldwide) natural disasters and alien attacks that the emergency services and government can’t handle themselves. Normal emergency services  jobs I’m not going to do anymore. It is nothing that the city or its citizens has done to make me come to this decision, but I need to take a step back for myself. I will explain why and to do that I need to explain some of my history._

_It started on Krypton. The downfall and destruction of our planet was unexpected for our people. Our planetary council kept it from the people and we had no such thing as media to find out about it. We trusted our leaders to speak the truth like it had worked for millennia. My parents and Superman’s parents all knew what was coming and tried everything to prevent it, but it didn’t work and they were nearly jailed for attempting to warn people. Instead they decided to secretly build two pods to save their children. A few months later I was woken up at night by the trembling and shaking of the planet. I didn’t know what happened because I wasn’t told about the problems. My parents came to get me and led me to the secret pods. When I arrived at my pod I saw my uncle sent the first one, which contained my cousin, away. He was just a baby back then. I was supposed to go straight after him after my parents made me promise to take care of him. However, I was delayed for ten seconds. Why? Because I wanted one last hug from my mother and father. When they launched my pod the tunnel was already starting to disintegrate and I was just outside of the planets gravity when it exploded. I saw my entire planet explode. I was thirteen and my family, friends, civilization, everything I knew was gone right before my eyes._

_In front of me I saw my cousin’s ship going to hyper drive and my ship was preparing to do the same thing. The ship started putting me in a state of stasis, but the moment my hyper drive enabled I was hit by a shockwave that came from the exploding planet. It threw my ship off course. My ship ended up in what we call ‘the phantom zone’. It’s a part of space where time does not pass. I spent nearly 24 years in there. I was asleep most of the time, but there were times I woke up and there was nothing. Just darkness, silence and nothing. I just kept reliving my planet’s destruction. Somehow 24 years later my ship came out and continued its journey to earth._

_My ship crashed on earth one sunny afternoon and when the shield opened my cousin was standing outside. He was already grown up and an adult while I was still thirteen. I didn’t speak his language, he didn’t speak mine and I was traumatized beyond believe from what I had witnessed. He doesn’t remember because he was a baby, but I do. I am the last Kryptonian who was raised on the planet and remembers our culture._

_I give you this information now because it is part of why I’m retiring. I have never really processed and dealt with the emotions and trauma that came from all this. The family who took me in all think I’m fine, but I never really was. Sure, I cried and was sad the first weeks of my arrival, but soon I needed to lock it all down in order to fit in. So I put on a smile and looked happy. But all I did was just burying all the pain and trauma and never really dealing with it. Nobody could understand the pain I had and I had no one to really talk to about this._

_Because I never dealt with it I already made peace that I was going to die helping people and not live a full life. This never really bothered me and while I didn’t try to kill myself, I also wasn’t sad if I were to die. If it happened, I could be with my people again in the eternal light of our god._

_But that has changed. Why?. Because I started to confront my trauma’s and I am trying to heal myself. And why am I doing this now? That is because I found the love of my life. I never thought I would find someone with who I wanted to spend my life with, but I have. However, due to me being Supergirl it has not been easy. With my normal full time day job and me helping people I have been burning myself out. I used to work 15 to 16 hours a day. No vacations, no days off and on call 24/7/365._

_People might have noticed I wasn’t flying around as much the last weeks and that was because I decided to take a much needed break. I slept nearly 48 hours in the first three days of my impromptu vacation. I simply can’t continue the way I have been going and I need to make some choices if I want to have a chance at happiness._

_National City has wonderful emergency services who were there before me, who will be there after me and they can keep you safe like they always have. I couldn’t take a step back without knowing that  all of you were looked after. That leads to another reason why I chose now to take a step back. The mayor office was in talks about cutting back on emergency services personnel because I always come in to help. If I didn’t step back right now I would have been nearly forced to always keep helping and I can’t and won’t do that._

_So there you have it. My reasons for semi-retiring. I hope you understand my reasons and support me in this. But before I finish this letter, I first want to explain some things that have been bothering me for some time now that I didn’t talk about before. But I think it is time to name these and hope it can make a change._

_The first thing is when I went on a rampage more than a year ago. For some reason the people I work with thought it was best to not say anything and have the people afraid of me instead of explaining what had happened. Simple answer: I was poisoned. Someone faked an emergency and tried to kill me. But the poison worked different than expected and basically removed all my inhibitions and control. Imagine every thought you have and acting on it without being able to stop yourself. I was cured eventually, but I still live with the guild. But don’t worry, there are now checks in place to check for this poison._

_The second thing is that you might have noticed I didn’t say the gender of the person I want to spend my life with. That is because for the safety of my partner and for the fact that to me (and a lot of alien races) genders are not important. Of the about 150 races I know, 98% percent of them don’t care about genders. Everyone is equal and genders don’t matter at all. There is no such thing as hetero or gay. People love who they love and there is no distinction. It is my hope that this will also become something on earth. I know the last decades things have improved, but there is still much inequality and gender discrimination._

_The third and last thing I wanted to mention is that there is a real lack of help from the government to help integrate aliens into our society. A lot of the problems that have been happening could have been prevented if there was something like an alien immigration office. Right now new aliens have to find out everything for themselves while most don’t even speak any earth language, understand the rules or know the technology. The government could work with aliens to make information packets with information about earth, it’s customs and other important information that is needed. Then there are also plenty of aliens that could help by translating it to non-earth languages or even help by being a translator in the room. Some of the fights I have had with aliens are a result of the lack of this. There is a lot of misunderstandings and cultural differences that could have been avoided if there was help integrating. For example:  giving a hand to someone is normal on earth, while on a planet like Epsixu it’s one of the biggest insults you can give, always leading to a fight._

_As a final note I want to say that I appreciate all the help I have gotten over the years and I will always remember the support from you, the people of National City and the world. I hope to have added something to making this planet a better world. Because of this I like to ask for a small favor. Please continue doing what I was doing and help others. Help each other even if it is just a small gesture. Pick up some trash from the ground, help someone cross the street or keep the door open for someone behind you. The possibilities are endless. Be nice to one other and keep talking about issues. Open your hearts and minds to other people and races, while you keep communicating to overcome hate and fear. Let all of us continue to make this planet a better place._

_In the words of one of my favorite songs, much to the chagrin of my cousin: I’m only one call away!_

_Greetings,_

_Supergirl_

 

“Well, that could have been a lot worse.” Alex said with tears in her eyes. She hadn’t known that Kara had felt that way and that she hadn’t dealt with her trauma’s. “She didn’t spill any secrets and actually gave some good advice. But did you two know Kara felt that way?

 

“I had no idea.” Winn answered looking unhappy. He had read the letter before Alex and J’onn arrived, but even after rereading it still hurt.

 

“I should have known,” J’onn added. “I had the same feelings when I lost my family on Mars. It took me a long time to deal with everything and not just push it down and hope it remains there. And I was already an adult at the time while she was a teenager. Did she ever receive counseling?” J’onn asked Alex.

 

Alex shook her head. “Not that I know of. When she lived with us we couldn’t let her see anyone because then she would have to tell she was an alien and that was something we didn’t want her to do. “

 

“And she couldn’t go here because our counseling is only for employees. Something she didn’t want to be, while an external one wasn’t allowed because then she would have had to disclose who she was and she wasn’t allowed to do that either.” J’onn added.

 

“I’m really starting to understand why she left to go out on her own. She really was stuck between a rock and a hard place with everything that was going on.” Alex said with a sad frown. “Still no real sighting on either Kara, Lena or Supergirl Winn?”

 

“No, nothing. Which isn’t really strange. Kara isn’t well known and Lena isn’t some kind of celebrity that is being followed around all the time. Just when she is newsworthy. A Supergirl sighting hasn’t been there either. Only massive amount of comments on the article.”

 

“And what are the comments saying?” Alex asked. She was hoping they were kind, but she was fearing the worst.

 

“Most are really nice and support her decision. ”Winn said happily. “There is a lot of support from the LGBT community and from woman because they feel vindicated and want that way of looking at things as soon as possible. Emergency service personal support her decision, especially because of her mental health and that she took this step before they were laid off. A lot of people wish her the best.” Winn kept scrolling through the feeds and quickly reading the comments. “There are also some people who think she should be deported because now she doesn’t contribute anything now. And as you can imagine the part about gender doesn’t matter, no labels, everyone is equal send a quite a few religious fanatics in a tail spin. But overall it looks good.”

 

“Okay then. I’ll be going to my office. I have a feeling that soon some brass will start calling.” J’onn said and waked away.

 

“I’ll be going to my therapy session with Dr. Benoist. Please keep monitoring things an call me if something changes.” Alex asked.

 

“Sure. No problem.” Winn turned his chair around as Alex walked away and he let out a big sigh. This was going to be a long day.


	13. There and Back Again

Kara and Lena had the time of their lives during the vacation on their own earth. After leaving Midvale they first flew towards Ireland where they spent a week. Lena wanted to go there to see where she came from and get a feeling for her mother country. They spent the week driving around the island and visiting a lot of (little) towns while at the same time seeing some of the more famous sights. The last day of the visit they decided to stay in Dublin and go shopping. It was early in the evening that they decided to go to their next destination.

 

After a long flight Tokyo awaited for them. They had decided to also stay a week in Japan. They strolled around in Tokyo and ate the most delicious sushi they ever had. Lena desperately wanted to visit the Odaiba science and technology center and they spent an entire day there. They also visited the Tokyo Sky Tree and the Disney park. From Tokyo they went on to their last two locations, which were more or less one visit.

 

They had flown south for several hours and landed in Melbourne Australia. The next two and a half weeks would be spend in Australia and New-Zealand. The few days in Melbourne they relaxed a bit and only strolled around town. After only a couple of days they flew to their next destination, Queenstown New-Zealand. It was from there that Lena had rented a helicopter which flew them around the islands to go see where their favorite movies were shot and they made sure to go to the Hobbinton movie set. They went kayaking at the Bay of Islands and Abel Tasman National Park, with day trips to Wellington and Auckland.

 

It was two weeks after they arrived in Queenstown that they got on the jet again and this time they flew to Midvale. They wanted to stay there for a couple of days and return to a normal rhythm before getting all the stuff together and returning to National city. It was Friday evening when Eliza picked them up from the airport and it was Kara who loaded all the suitcases in the car, which were a lot more then when they had left.

 

On the drive back they picked up a couple of pizza’s at a local pizzeria and they ate them while sitting on the couch, showing Eliza pictures that they had taken on their travels. It wasn’t long after dinner that Lena and Kara’s eyes started closing and before they knew it Eliza sent them upstairs to sleep.

 

They slept well into the morning and it was nearly noon when they finally came downstairs. “So, I take it you have lost some of the jetlag?” Eliza asked them smirking at the state they were in. She had often seen Kara in home wear, but Lena not so much. Without her makeup and stress of the company, she could see how young Lena actually was. She looked adorable with her disheveled hair up in a loose bun, sleepy eyes while wearing a simple tank top and a pair of sweatpants. Eliza recognized the pants as one of Kara’s and there was no doubt in her mind that Kara had hidden the fact that there was a text on the backside from Lena. “Nice pants Lena.” Eliza said with a devilish smirk.

 

Lena nodded at Eliza when she talked about the jetlag, but she could hear the smirk of the woman when she complemented the sweatpants. She knew Eliza wouldn’t say anything mean about her wearing it, so there really was something with the pants. She looks over at her fiancée who had given the pants to her and she saw that Kara blushed and couldn’t look her in the eyes.

 

“What did you do Kar? ”Lena sighed and stared at her. “You did something. You’re blushing, can’t look me in the eyes and you are trying to look far to innocent for some reason. What did you do?”

 

Kara held up her hands like she was surrendering. “Nothing, I did nothing. Just because the pants decide to speak the truth, doesn’t imply I did something.”

 

“What do you……” Suddenly it clicked in Lena’s mind and she squinted towards Kara as she walked past her to get to a mirror.

 

Both woman heard Lena running up the stairs and Eliza couldn’t suppress a slight chuckle about this moment. No one will ever believe this happened.  She was looking towards Kara, who was looking guilty and amused when there was a sudden yell.

 

“Kara! There ‘juicy’ written on my butt.” Was yelled from upstairs. Kara blushed again, hung her head and resigned in her fate when she heard a pair of feet quickly descending the staircase.

 

Lena came into the kitchen and pointed at het fiancée. “You cheeky little alien,” she said, but couldn’t suppress a little smile. “Really Kar. These sweatpants….. You are lucky I love you.”

 

“Oh, I know you love me Lee. As Miss B would say  ‘you liked it so you put a ring on it’” Kara told her and showed her ring finger at the same time. Nobody in the kitchen managed to not laugh at this.  

 

“Oh god….You really are something else you dork. You really are…” Lena mumbled during her laughing. She wasn’t mad and actually found the pants quite cute to wear around the house. And the pants weren’t lying either. It certainly made her butt look juicy.

 

 

After a large brunch and getting themselves cleaned up, Kara and Lena sat down in the kitchen and started discussing what Lena was going to do to find more people to help her. She had already scouted promising talent to replace several managers that were leftovers from the Lex and Lillian era. She didn’t trust them and to many strange things had happened under their watch. She wanted to go for young, enthusiastic people that had ambition and a view that aligned with her own.

 

Lena also wanted to do something which shocked Kara when she was told. She was going to promote Jess to a COO position. At the moment there wasn’t a COO and having one would take away a lot of work from Lena. Jess has been working at L-Corp for the best part of four years already, knows the company inside and out and has the necessary education to go on that path. In those years she had become a friend to Lena and their visions for the future matched as well. To replace Jess she was going to poach Eve Teschmacher from CatCo. Eve already had worked a bit for her on a temporary basis and she was actually one of the people who warned Lena about James talking behind her back.

 

Those were a few things she wanted to change immediately and was already preparing the paperwork for after their National City return.

 

It was during the evening they all sat together in the living room watching television and chatting with each other, when the topic turned to Kara’s letter to the people of National City. Kara hadn’t been on any social media during the vacation and hadn’t read any articles or comments. Eliza told them about the reaction she had gotten and that most were positive and they were happy for her. Especially the LGBT and woman groups sang her praises as she had confirmed that on almost all planets everyone was equal and that they were no 2nd class citizens. There were some bad reactions, mostly from religious hardliners and conservatives that she was ‘ruining the natural order’, but they were a small minority.

 

What Kara had already read was that by decree president Mardin was going to follow up on the Alien Immigration Office idea. A large amount of people where in support of this measure since it would be relatively cheap and could save a lot of money on the long run. Some senators were against the idea, but it were the same ones who also were the loudest voices condemning aliens when something had happened. Almost like they didn’t want to solve the problem.

 

Late Sunday afternoon they drove back to the airport again with the car stuffed to the roof with suitcases and bags from both their trips. Lena was happy that once they landed in National City a large car would be waiting for them with enough space for everything. Both of them hugged Eliza goodbye thanked her for driving them. They got on board and flew to National City, ready to begin their new lives together.

 

It was late in the evening when they finally sat foot in their penthouse after being away for more than ten weeks. Since it was completely dark outside Kara flew back to Midvale to get the crate with her new suit while Lena started to unpack their suitcases. Kara wasn’t gone long and had flown just below the speed of sound to be as fast as possible without breaking windows. At super speed she helped unpack the suitcases and put her new suit in a special safe. They were quickly done unpacking and ended the night cuddling on the couch watching some Brooklyn Nine-Nine before turning in for the night.

 

It was 10 am the next morning when Lena walked out of their home and went to catch up with Sam at L-Corp, while Kara hung around the house and ran several errands. She also remembered to send a quick email to Cisco asking for another Kryptolize stone, which she was going to give to Clark. The better part of the day she was preparing mentally for the next day. The day she had been dreading for years now. She was going to visit the Fortress. Clark had told her a bit about what was there, but that didn’t help much.

 

That evening Lena noticed how absent minded and fidgety Kara was. She knew Kara was going to the fortress the next day and that it would be a hard time for her. She had offered to go with her, but Kara wanted to do it alone. It was when Kara had managed to burn her 2nd pizza of the night that Lena took Kara’s hand when she sat down beside her on the couch..

 

“Kara, love. Please relax and calm down. Whatever happens tomorrow, we will get through it together. You have nothing to be so nervous about. Clark has been there dozens of times. Everything will be alright.”

 

“Thank you Lee. I know it doesn’t make sense that I’m so nervous, but for some reason I am. I can’t even explain it. Can we maybe watch some television or something like that tonight? I think some distraction will do me good.”

 

“Sure. You want to continue watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine?” Lena asked while Kara laid down and rested her head on Lena’s lap. Lena gently stroked the blonds hair and massaged her scalp soothingly.

 

“Yeah let’s do that. That is something that will definitely distract me. It’s funny and easy.” Kara murmured.

 

For a few seconds there was a silence but then both spoke at the same time:  “Title of your sex tape” and they started to shake with laughter. It took a minute but both calmed down and already Kara’s nerves had gone down significantly. It was going to be a long, but good night.

 

 

The next morning Lena kept showering Kara with little kisses and wished her good luck when she left to go to L-Corp. It was still early, but Kara was already flying to the arctic. It took almost an hour, but she had found the fortress and was now standing outside of it. She took a couple of big breaths and mustered all her courage. She hovered her hand in front of the wall, next to the doorpost, She still remembered this from the first visit and these scanners were used on Krypton for as long as she could remember. The doors quickly opened and she stepped inside for the first time.

 

As she walked in the doors closed behind her. Automaticity the lighting in the fortress went brighter and slowly it all came to life. The Large white dome became visible while, even though it was hidden from the outside. She looked on towards her left and right when she let out a sudden gasp and tears started welling up in her eyes. All around the outside walls she saw glass like statues that were about ten feet tall. She recognized all them immediately. It was all of her family and also some of the most historical figures from the House of El. She saw almost life like images of Lara and Jor-El on her left, but her eyes were drawn to the right. There she saw the statues of her parents and her aunt Astra. She quickly walked over and fell on her knees in front of them, sobbing and gasping loudly. Whatever she had expected, it wasn’t this. Clark hadn’t said anything, but then again he doesn’t have an emotional tie to these people and he doesn’t know what their family looked like. He only knew Lara and Jor-El.

 

It took Kara several minutes to pull herself together and she slowly walked to the command center in the middle of the fortress. When she walked into the command center the computers turned on and outside the center a part of the floor opened. She looked towards the opening and gasped when she saw a Kelex robot emerging from it.

 

“Oh my Rao,” Kara said in amazement. “I didn’t know any of you survived.”

 

“Hello, Kara Zor-El. My name is Kelex. Welcome to the fortress. How may I help you?”

 

“Hello Kelex. Kal-El told me about this place, but why did Jor-El design it?”

 

“Jor-El designed this for his son Kal-El and you, his cousin.” Kara gasped again. She knew Jor-El build this for Kal-El, but not that it was also for her. It did make sense though since she was to take care of  Kal-El who should have been a baby at the time. “He wanted the both of you to have a piece of home.”

 

Kara sniffled a bit. “Can I have access to the computer? I’d like to see what else he did”

 

“Access granted, Kara Zor-El. If you need my help, you know how to reach me.”

 

“Thank you Kelex.”

 

Kara went towards the command center and opened the holographic interface. She quickly started reading. She completely forgot the time as she read more and more. She kept gasping, sighing, sniffling and crying as she kept on reading and watching.

 

It was much later when a loud and unexpected yell went through the fortress.

 

“OH MY RAO!”


	14. Unexpected Discoveries

Lena was getting worried.  Kara told her before she left Tuesday morning that she didn’t know how long it would take. Lena had expected it could become a late night, but now that she hadn’t heard a thing in more than a day, she was becoming worried. Calls and texts didn’t go through and she didn’t know what to do. She was even contemplating calling Clark. She did wonder how well that would go over since he didn’t know she knew his identity.

 

She went into L-Corp that day anyway to try to distract herself. It only worked a bit as she started becoming more anxious every passing hour. When she arrived home that day at six, it was almost a day and a half since she had last heard from Kara. Lena walked into the penthouse and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Kara sitting on the couch. She quickly walked over, but could see something was wrong. Kara hadn’t noticed her walking in and she was just staring at the wall.

 

“Hey, Kar? Everything okay? When did you come back? You have been away a while” Lena asked gently as she sat down on the coffee table in front of Kara.

 

Kara looked up startled as she hadn’t noticed Lena at all yet. “I’m not sure.” She said with hesitation and doubt. “I think I haven’t been back for long. How long have I been away?”

 

“Almost a day and a half.” Lena told her softly. She was getting deeply concerned about what had happened. She had never seen Kara look so scared, happy and pained at the same time.

 

“Well, that explains why I am so hungry.” Kara scoffed at herself.

 

“Kar, what happened? I have never seen you look so startled and absent minded?”

 

“I have the short version and the long version. Which one do you want?” Kara asked.

 

“Give me the short version first please. I’m really starting to get worried here.” Lena told her gently.

 

“Short version? My cousin is an idiot. An absolute idiot.” Kara said angry and pained. It almost scared Lena to hear Kara talk like this. “If he had only bothered to learn Kryptonian when I offered to teach it to him.” Kara sighed. “You and I have been together now 10 months and you know more of my language then he does. If only he had more interest in where he came from.” Kara said dejectedly.

 

“Okay Kar come here and give me a hug.” Lena pulled Kara into the hug and rubbed Kara’s back soothingly. She whispered sweet and soft words into Kara’s neck waiting for her to calm down. It took nearly ten minutes before she let Kara loose and she saw a lot of tension had left Kara’s body.

 

“Thank you Lee. That was just what I needed. Do you think we can we get some food now? I will explain why my cousin is an idiot, but I’m starving.”

 

“Sure. Want me to double your usual pizza and potstickers order? I know you haven’t eaten since yesterday morning so you must be running on fumes”

 

“Yeah, let’s do that. I’ll go take a quick shower before dinner arrives.” Kara quickly gets up and is soon standing in a steaming hot shower trying to relax and lose some more tension.

 

 

It was almost half an hour later when Kara emerged from the bathroom, looking fresh, clean and calm. She was wearing simple sweatpants and a tank top with a lightning bolt on the front. The latter being a gift from Barry after a small team up on his earth. She walked barefoot into the living room where Lena was still sitting. When Kara was showering she had also changed and was now wearing Kara’s Juicy sweatpants and a Supergirl tank top with a painted on cape at the back. Looking at their clothing Kara couldn’t contain a little chuckle. If only some fashion magazine could see them now.

 

They waited another half an hour before the food arrived. Kara wanted to wait until after dinner to talk about what had happened. She knew it would change a lot for them and she only hoped Lena would be happy with it.

 

They ate the dinner in comfortable silence while watching some more Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Kara ate like she hadn’t eaten in a year and inhaled slice after slice while filling some empty places in her stomach with potstickers. They were quickly done eating and Kara knew she couldn’t postpone longer.

 

“Lee,” Kara says hesitantly and vulnerable. “I want to tell you what happened at the fortress, but first I want you to promise me you won’t freak out and that you don’t tell anyone what I’m about to say to you.”

 

“I promise that I won’t tell. And I’ll try not to freak out love.”

                                                                                                                    

“Okay,” Kara says and she exhales deeply. “First I need to give you a quick history lesson. My people once were space explorers. We harvested knowledge and loved the pursued of it. A lot of our people were scientist. After an accident that blew up one of our moons and the residing colony, all of our people were called home. Space travel was forbidden for all normal citizens. A few top scientists were still allowed to go to conferences, security forces were allowed to fly around the system and we still traded with other planets but they needed to come to us with the items. We might have pulled back to our planet, but we still knew that we needed weapons and technology because we could still be attacked. So our pursue of knowledge never stopped and we kept developing and sending out probes. We had some of the best and most modern technology in the galaxy, but almost all of it was aimed to be autonomous or to be controlled from the planet.” Kara exhales loudly. “This is something you need to know before I tell you what happened at the Fortress.”

 

“When I arrived and entered the fortress, the first thing I saw was dozens of statues that were copies of my immediate family together with historical persons from our House. That was also the moment I started shedding the first tears. I recognized them all. It was like looking back at my house’s history.” Kara sniffled a bit and took several deep breaths before continuing.

 

“I walked on and entered the central area where the computer interface is. As soon as I entered a part of the floor opened up and out came a Kelex robot. I never told you about them, but they were servants on Krypton. They did everything from housekeeping to waste disposal to cleaning the streets. Kelex robots hover in the air and have a very smart AI. This one actually has learned English so that Kal could use it. The Kelex robot was also the one that warned Kal when my pod arrived on earth. That is something Kal never told me and that is real shame. If only he had done that….”

 

“What Kal never bothered to find out was how Kelex knew I arrived. If he had learned Kryptonese he could have read the computer, but he didn’t. Kal only thinks that there is the one floor and the robot. That’s it. But when I sat down behind the computer there was a message there from Jor-El and Zor-El. As soon as I opened it holograms, like my mothers, came to life and started playing their message. They talked about the Fortress, why they had built it and what is in it.”

 

Kara knew what she was going to say now would change things. She sighed deeply an took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Lee, what they have done is put every bit of data, knowledge and technology that Krypton had on data crystals and placed them in the fortress. There is music, my favorite childhood books, study books, the latest projects, blueprints, everything Krypton ever developed or thought of is in there. It’s just like the Repository of Knowledge in Stargate, only less invasive.”

 

Lena gasped loudly and quickly thought over the implications of this. But before she could ask questions Kara continued.

 

“Lee, I know you have questions and idea’s, but there is more.”

 

“The reason Kelex knew I arrived is because the Fortress has Kryptonian sensors. They are so advanced that they can easily scan the entire solar system and then some. These scanners are the latest model Krypton ever developed and were made so we could monitor the surrounding space without leaving the planet. But what it also can do is scan the planet. I found a hair of you on my suit and I placed it in an scanner. Within 10 seconds the sensors found your DNA signature and your exact location, but also where you have been and how degraded that that sample was. Can you imagine what I can do and could have done with this? I could have found your mother and Cadmus in an instant, together with many of their bases. Jeremiah would have never been taken captive or at least rescued straight away.”

 

“Oh Kara. I don’t know what to say. I’m really sorry.” Lena said with tears in her eyes. She knows Kara still feels guilty about Jeremiah and this could have helped so much.

 

“There is nothing you could have done Lee. It was because I was too scared to go there and Kal’s lack of understanding Kryptonese. As it turns out the Fortress wasn’t just for him. It was also for me. I know those technologies, Kal does not. Who makes a fortress for a baby anyway?” Kara said a bit annoyed.

 

Kara exhales and calms her nerves. There were a few more things including the biggest thing she found out.

 

“But there is more Lee. When I was a child I always said I wanted a big family and lots of kids. This was not allowed on krypton because there was a one child maximum limit, except when it were twins. Since my father was planning on sending me to earth, my dream would become even more impossible since human and Kryptonian reproduction is incompatible. Well, my father took it as an challenge. He added a Kryptonian birthing chamber to the fortress and modified it. It is adapted so it could also be used with human and Kryptonian DNA. Lee, if we want we could have baby’s that are genetically ours.”                  

 

Lena gasped and a smile came over her face. A baby made out of both of them would be great. She was already seeing a little girl with black hair and blue eyes hovering above a little crib.

 

“And as if that wasn’t enough he added two more things.” Kara adds sounding a bit more relieved. She had seen the smile on Lena’s face when she mentioned baby’s and she knew what that mend, but that could wait till later. “He added a healing chamber. These were really rare and only used in the military or someone who’s knowledge was desperately needed. It can heal someone from nearly anything. It can grow back limbs in hours, regenerate tissue and organs and could even be used to revive someone. Even after years of death, depending on how they were preserved.”

 

Lena squeezed Kara’s hands a bit and nodded that she understood the implications. At least she thought she knew why Kara mentioned this chamber. “Please continue Kar.”

 

“There is one last thing and it is a big one.” Kara said. “My father knew about what powers I would get on earth. That was one of the reasons they chose this planet. But there is one power I don’t like thinking about and we haven’t really talked about and I think you know which one.”

 

“Yes.” Lena said softly. “that you will live much longer than humans.”

 

Kara nodded in agreement. “Yes. I have never known how much longer, but my father had calculated it on Krypton. Lee, according to him I will age so slowly I should be able to reach my fifth thousand birthday without any problems.”

 

Lena’s eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when she hears this number. She knew Kara would age slower, but this is astounding. She also immediately knows that this will take and insane toll on her. She will keep losing everyone. She quickly grabs Kara’s hands and strokes them softly. “Oh Kara, I can’t imagine how much this must hurt. But please, don’t do anything rash.” Lena said worried.

 

“I won’t Lee, because it might not be needed.” Lena looks surprised at this. “My father knew about this and he anticipated that there was a good chance I would fall in love with a human. As a final surprise he gave me the biggest gift I have ever received and could wish for. It also explains why he was always working during the last months.”

 

Kara gently holds Lena’s hands and looks her straight in the eyes as she exhales deep a few times.

 

“Lee, he used information, from a probe he had launched towards earth, and made a machine that can turn a human into a Kryptonian. Same powers, same everything. And there is a working chamber in the Fortress already. Just like the birthing and healing chamber.”

 

Lena gasped as she heard what Zor-El had made. She got tears in her eyes and she thinks (and hopes) that she knows where Kara is going with this.

 

Kara looks softly at Lena and makes sure she still holds Lena’s hands. “Lee, I think you might know what I want to ask, but I will ask anyway. Would you consider doing this and becoming a Kryptonian? You don’t have to do it and I won’t blame you if you won’t, but I want to ask it.” Kara added quickly. ”You are the love of my life and I hope you will be with me forever. This way we will have a long life together and you will have more protection then I could ever give.”

 

Lena smiles and she knows she was correct. “I would love to Kara. I might want Eliza and me to check it out before I use it, but I would love too. I have wondered how long you would live ever since the time we touched that topic when you explained your powers. I had already decided I would do everything I could to make sure I lived as long as possible, but this would be even better. I know you have always worried about being alone and everyone dying, but at least now there will be a good chance we will be together for a very long time. So if you want, I would definitely want to be changed to a Kryptonian.”

 

Kara’s smile grew as she heard Lena say yes and explain her reasoning. It was all she hoped for ever since she found out about the technology. She would need to tell Clark about this as well, but Lena’s response was all she had hoped for. She also knew babies were in the future for them when she had seen the look in Lena’s eyes after she had mentioned the birthing chamber. She couldn’t be any happier then she was right that moment. Unless she counted that nagging feeling that she had hoped to be able to share something like this with her sister.

 

They ended up talking the entire night about what else Kara had seen in the Fortress. One of the most important discoveries she had made were the terraforming technologies and when she told Lena, Lena actually squealed a bit. Krypton had terraformed several planets long before their return to home and the technology used was on the data crystals. These designs include tech that can grow plants and trees up to twenty times faster than normal. It could create an entire forest within a year. There was tech to create clean drinkable water from a lot of different polluted sources and there was one other important device she had found. This was an air scrubber. These scrubbers can quickly and efficiently remove pollution from the air while exhausting clean breathable air and other products that could be stored safely.

 

When Kara arrived at the air scrubbers Lena nearly assaulted her to make sure she would make a copy of the designs the next time she went there. Kara quickly agreed and she could see Lena think about all the possibilities this could bring.

 

As soon as Lena heard about this technology, she knew it would be revolutionary, but also to high tech to be human designed. She has already decided to make it a lot more ‘stupid’ so it could be passed as human designed. She also asked if Kara wanted to teach her the full Kryptonian language. Kara beamed and nearly cried at this. It had been so long since she had spoken Kryptonian with anyone and was touched Lena wanted to learn it for her.

 

Later that night in bed Kara had a happy and content smile while spooning Lena and stroking softly over Lena’s abdomen. Lena was fast asleep and letting out cute little snoring sounds that Kara had come to love. She was thinking back over the past few months. How everything had gone to hell, how alone she had felt and she knew that if she hadn’t had Lena for support she wouldn’t have made it. But, she had her and Lena had pulled her through the difficult times. Ever since they went on vacation something had changed though. Kara felt tougher, more mature and felt genuine self-confidence. Not the fake confidence she used to use as Supergirl. She had become Kara Zor-El and not the afraid and meek Kara Danvers. She was thinking back about her visit to the Fortress and how she had confronted her demons. A weight was lifted of her shoulders and with what she had found her future seemed long and happy. She was going to have a family and Lena was going to grow old with her. She started thinking that maybe her luck had turned and she finally could have it all.  


	15. Transformation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two riddles in this chapter. 
> 
> 1\. What do the singers and bands have in common?  
> 2\. Spot the Smallville reference. Who can tell me the reference?
> 
> Good luck!

During the next couple of days Kara flew to the Fortress every day. She was still sifting through the computer and what she had found was astonishing. It really was all the knowledge her race had collected. She had found that a copy of her mother’s hologram was also located in the Fortress, together with ones from her father, uncle and aunt. Their messages broke her again, although not as much as before. Between finding out what was in the computer and learning about the conversion chamber she kept herself busy. She had studied the manuals as well as the schematics and knew it would work. Most of the technology used she already knew about and had studied on Krypton. Being in the Fortress and studying science again awakened something in her. She was supposed to be the youngest Kryptonian to be added to the science guild, but when she arrived on earth she simply couldn’t study science anymore. It was too painful and reminded her to much of home.

 

But things had changed now that she was confronting and dealing with feelings she had buried a long time ago. After high school she had studied journalism because she found it interesting and she hoped it would close the rift between her and Kal. But that hadn’t worked at all. If anything, the rift had become bigger. During her years at CatCo, as Cat’s assistant, were some of the happiest years she had so far. But there was always the nagging feeling that something was missing. She thought it was because she wanted to be a reporter, so when she got the chance she jumped at the position. As it turned out, that wasn’t it either. She liked being a journalist, but she didn’t love it. She was happy when work hours were over or when she was called away for an emergency. That was one of the first clues that made her notice she was in Love with Lena. During their friendship they had lunches, dinners or movie nights and she always was sad when they ran out of time or when one of them was called away. She wanted their meetings to be longer and keep hearing Lena talk about L-Corps latest inventions. She never got tired of hearing Lena passionately describing some invention, even though it was something so old she hadn’t even had to learn it on Krypton.

 

And now those feelings were coming back again by sifting through records and studying Kryptonian science. A missing piece fell into place. She was happy and felt like her mind had woken up after a long nap. Thoughts and ideas were flying through her mind non-stop.

 

It was Friday evening when Kara and Lena got on a L-Corp jet again and flew back to Midvale. They wanted to explain what had happened the last week and they wanted to do it in person. This time they had a rented car waiting for them at the small airport. After the relatively short flight they got in the car and Lena drove them Eliza’s house while Kara commandeered the radio. Soon the sounds of 3 Doors Down, Five for Fighting, Eminem, Bonnie Tyler, Charlie Puth and Coldplay came out of the sound system as they drove down the coast.

 

“So, what is it you want to talk about?” Eliza asked as they all had sat down on the couches in the living room. “You were very mysterious on the phone but looking at you two, especially you Kara, I don’t think it’s anything to bad.”

 

Kara beamed even more and a gigantic smile was on her face. To be fair, that smile had been there since Wednesday evening. “Well, it isn’t anything bad. It is great actually.” Kara sat a bit closer to Lena and placed her arm around her shoulder pulling her in for a sideways hug.

 

Together they told Eliza the story of what had happened the past week and when Kara told her about the knowledge and devices in the fortress Eliza got tears in her eyes, quickly stood up and gave the unsuspecting couple a big hug. The moment Kara had told Eliza about the conversion chamber she knew what was going to happen and she couldn’t be more happy for them. Kara quickly went on telling Eliza about the time she spend in the fortress researching and studying the chamber. When Kara was passionately explaining those days both Eliza and Lena saw a glint of happiness in her eyes. Something they had never really seen when she was speaking about her reporter job. They both recognized what it was since both of them had that look as well when they were in their element.

 

It was some time later that Kara had finally stopped talking that Lena wanted to ask Eliza something.

 

“Eliza, we were wondering if you wouldn’t mind packing an overnight bag and going away with us tomorrow and Sunday?” Lena asked gently. They didn’t know if Eliza had plans already.

 

“I wouldn’t mind, but where are we going?”

 

“Well,” Kara chimed in. “I want to take you and Lena to the Fortress to study the chamber.” Eliza gasped in surprise. She had never expected to ever see the fortress. “What I have read and studied so far, it should work. But tomorrow we wanted to test a bit and if everything checks out Lena wanted to go in the machine Sunday. We want to do this fairly quickly, because with all the threats against Lena, I want her to be as safe as possible. We were hoping you would help since you know more about human and Kryptonian physiology than anyone else.”

 

“I would love to. Do I need anything special up there? Any warm clothes? And how are we getting there?”

 

Kara shook her head. “No, the building has heating. Only a warm jacket is needed. And how we will get there? That is a surprise. You will find out in the morning.”

 

The rest of the evening was spend with small talk among the three of them and both Lena and Eliza were often drifting of talking about bioengineering and what they were expecting in the Fortress. Kara sat back, nipping on her hot chocolate drink, and watching as the two were discussing the latest advancements. She felt at peace, content and more happy then she thought she could ever feel. It wasn’t long before her eyes slowly closed and she fell asleep curled up on the couch. It was a little snore that made Eliza and Lena’s head turn and they softly smiled at each other as they saw the sleeping Kryptonian with a soft smile on her face. They decided to call it a night as well and Lena quickly changed to her sleeping clothes and snuggled up to Kara on the couch. It wasn’t long before sleep overtook her as well.

 

 

It was the next morning and all of the people at Eliza’s flew around gathering stuff for their trip. Eliza had made a big breakfast for all of them and Kara had made a quick trip to the grocery store to get some frozen meals for when they were at the Fortress. At ten o clock they all were packed and ready waiting.

 

“So, How are we going to get there?” Eliza asked either one of them.

 

“Just wait a few seconds. Our ride will be here.” Kara said. As soon as she was done speaking a breach opened in front of them. Eliza’s eyes nearly fell out their sockets. She had never seen a breach before. Soon Cisco walked out of the breach, pushing a trolley on wheels and he stopped in front of the women. He gave Kara and Lena a hug and introduced himself to Eliza.

 

“Hello, I’m Cisco Ramone.”

 

“Eliza Danvers.” Eliza answered and she couldn’t believe what was happening.

 

“Cisco is one of our friends on earth 1. He works with Barry.” Lena explained to Eliza. “He is a technical genius and a meta-human. He can open breaches across the multiverse and across planets. He is our ride to the Fortress.”

 

“I sure am.” He answered with a cocky, but charming smile. “Kara, can you place this trolley somewhere safe? The items you requested are in there.” Kara quickly took the trolley and stashed it in the attic while Cisco explained a bit more to Eliza. “You just walk into the breach and instantaneously you walk out on the other side.. Nothing to it really. If Kara placed a small beacon I can get you all in front of the Fortress.”

 

Kara came back down and nodded that she had placed the beacon. Cisco quickly put on his visor again and he searched for the beacon. He found it quickly and opened a breach. They all thanked him for transporting them while first Lena, then Eliza walked into the breach. Kara was last, but before she entered Cisco told her one last thing.

 

“When you need to go home, give me a call and I’ll open a breach from Midvale to the Fortress again.”

 

“I will. Thank you very much Cisco. This saves me hours of flight time.”

 

“Your welcome. Good luck.”

 

Kara entered the breach and a few seconds later Cisco closed it. A few seconds later another breach opened and he went home, ready to work on his projects.

 

  

Having arrived at the Fortress Kara quickly let them all in and showed them around. They all were in awe from the technology and how the Fortress looked. Kara introduced them to the Kelex unit and showed them the hologram technology. They knew Kryptonian’s were miles ahead technologically, but seeing it in real life was another story. They instantly started bombarding Kara about the holographic technology and the Kelex unit. Kara answered a few questions, but quickly steered them to another floor and showed them the conversion chamber. Kara controlled the interface of the chamber and translated the screens since everything was in Kryptonian. Lena and Eliza fired questions at her and asked her to explain blueprints and the notes.

 

They were quick studies and soon they were running diagnostics. With help of the Kelex unit and the Zor-El AI it wasn’t long before they had an understanding of the technology. It was advanced, but most of the underlying technology Kara already knew about and had studied on Krypton. The differences were mostly software related and based on the difference in human genetics. They spend the rest of the day doing checks and running some test samples. Everything turned out fine and there were no problems.

 

It was already late in the evening that they decided to stop for the night. Everything had gone well and looked in working order. Kara used her heat vision to reheat several frozen pizzas and together they ate them while watching picture’s from Krypton and listening to Kryptonian music. It was well over midnight that they called it a day and went to the bedrooms located in the fortress sub levels. Both Kara and Lena were to wound up to sleep and decided to have a little fun, one last time, while Lena was human. 

 

 

After a short night Kara made a quick breakfast for all of them. It was nothing fancy, but it got their stomachs filled. Eliza and Kara ran a few more checks and diagnostics and soon were ready to start. Kara went to get Lena and while they still had some privacy took her into a hug and showered her with small kisses.

 

Kara snuggled in Lena’s neck and murmured softly when she noticed Lena shivering, “You have nothing to be nervous about Lee. We have tested the chamber and it all will work. You shouldn’t even notice anything of the procedure. When you come out you will be a Kryptonian and we will have a very long time together. It will all be alright love.”

 

Lena nodded on Kara’s shoulder. “I love you Kar. Just in case, I wanted to say that. I love you so much.”

 

“I love you to Lee.”

 

They slowly walked a few hallway’s until they reached the room with the conversion chamber. Lena took a few big breaths and mustered her courage, before she walked in. She shared a hug with Eliza, who said a few encouraging words and calmed her down a bit more. After sharing another hug and kiss with Kara she stepped inside the chamber and waited until the lid closed.

 

As soon as the lid was closed the computer scanned the chamber and gave the all clear signal. Kara quickly kissed the palm of her hand and placed it against the door. Lena did the same and both silently mouthed ‘I love you’ to each other. Lena blinked calmly as she waited for the procedure to begin. It took only a few seconds after Kara pressed start that she noticed a fog appear within the chamber and before she could blink her eyes got heavy and the world became black.

 

 

After five long and nerve wrecking hours the conversion was almost done. If the fortress hadn’t been made out of Kryptonian material’s, Eliza was sure she and Kara would have made the floor several inches lower from their nervous pacing. Kara watched into the chamber again and could see the fog starting to dissipate and the iv’s starting to retreat. She knew it was almost done. These were the longest five hours of her life and that was counting the times she was awake in the Phantom zone.

 

A few minutes later the lights in the chamber turned normal and the chamber opened up. Both Kara and Eliza immediately went to it and waited for Lena to wake up, which happened almost immediately. Kara quickly grabbed Lena and sat her down on a chair while soothingly stroking her hand. Eliza made sure to not touch Lena in case she had gained powers, of which she would have no control yet.

 

Lena opened her eyes and she noticed an anxious and frightened Kara in front of her. “Lee, how are you feeling? Did it work?”

 

Lena blinked several times and took in her surroundings. She now also saw Eliza sitting several meters away from her looking expectantly. “I don’t know Kar. I don’t feel really different.”

 

“Oh,” Kara said dejected and looking sad. “So it didn’t work?”

 

Lena’s heart nearly broke when she saw Kara’s smile falter and noticed that Kara teared up and looked like she lost her world again. She really needed to find out if it had worked. She tried to look through the walls and tear up her jeans, but nothing happened. She had one more option and she blushed profusely as she undid a few buttons of her blouse, pulled her bra to the side and looked between her breasts.

 

Kara saw what Lena was doing and got more depressed by the second. When she saw her opening her blouse she turned beet red and turned away a bit and noticed Eliza doing the same. She looked more amused though.

 

“Well, I have good news and bad news.” Lena said. “The bad news is I can’t view through the walls or tear up my jeans. But, the good news is I seem to have healed in the chamber.”

 

“What do you mean you have healed? Were you injured when you went in?” Eliza asked looking worried again.

 

Lena blushed again and got a bit uncomfortable. “Let’s just say Kara didn’t have her red sun bracelet last night and I had a few hickey’s underneath my bra. They are all gone now.” Lena said looking down at her hands, clearly uncomfortable.    

 

Eliza let out a quick laughter and smiled while Kara looked like she wanted to sink through the floor and never come back up. But, she was smiling again because clearly something had happened in the chamber. Lena stood up and walked around a bit, while trying to enable some of the powers she should have now, but again nothing happened.

 

Half an hour passed and there was still no signs any powers. Kara and Eliza were reading the chambers log to see if there had been any problems, while Lena was sitting and waiting. Kara walked over to her bag to get a snack and she bend over open it up. Lena sat straight behind the bag and saw Kara bending over. She immediately thought that it should be illegal how good Kara looked in yoga pants while bending over like that. It got her a bit hot and bothered and before she knew what happened she heard Kara yelp in surprise and there were burn holes in the pants straight to the cheeks.

 

Eliza looked up at the yelp of her daughter and saw the two smoldering holes and a surprised Lena blushing harder than she ever had. She immediately started laughing and took the edge of the situation. “Oh, you are definitely Kryptonian now Lena. I am one hundred percent sure. Even aside from the healing and the heat vision you just used.”

 

“What do you mean? How can you be sure?” Lena asked quickly. She needed answers.

 

Eliza smiled and chuckled a bit. “Well, when Clark got his first heat vision he set fire to a projector screen because of his new and very hot biology teacher. When Kara came to live with us she had other powers first, but her heat vision started after she saw the pizza delivery girl and suddenly my garden was on fire. And now you looked at Kara bending over and her pants now have two holes.”  

 

Lena blushed and smiled while Kara just wanted to disappear. That story should never have been told to anyone she thought. She used a bit of super speed to get back to their room and quickly put on some loose fitting pants. When she returned to Lena a smile had grown and she began to hope again. It was then that she suddenly got an idea and called for Kelex.

 

“Kelex, can you scan mine and Eliza’s dna? What race are we?”

 

“I can do that Kara Zor-El. It should only take a few seconds.” Kelex scanned both of them and quickly answered the question. “Eliza Danvers is 100% human and you Kara Zor-El are 100% Kryptonian.”

 

“Thank you Kelex. And can you scan how much sunlight there is absorbed in my cells?”

 

“Your sun energy levels are at 100%” Kelex answered.

 

“And what about Lena?” Kara quickly asked.

 

“Lena Luthor is 100% Kryptonian and her sun energy levels are at 15% and slowly rising.”

 

Kara beamed and quickly hugged a teared up Lena. None of them had thought about the radiation levels. She only needed more sunlight.

 

“Lee, get your coat.” Kara said to Lena after letting her out of the hug. “We are going outside a bit and walk in the sun.” Lena nodded and quickly went to get her coat. Kara invited Eliza as well, but she declined so she could study the results more.

 

After Lena had returned the couple went outside and went for a walk on the arctic snow. Lena already noticed she didn’t feel the cold as much as when they arrived. They walked for about two hours and by the time they returned to the Fortress Lena had Kara’s glasses on because her hearing and x-ray vision had kicked in. Also her grip had gotten stronger and she didn’t feel the cold anymore.

 

Kelex did another scan of Lena and she was still 100% Kryptonian, but her sun radiation levels were at 45% now. Kara and Lena started clearing out their rooms and getting everything ready so they could return to Midvale. Eliza had already packed her stuff and was watching photos from Krypton again. Kara was the first to return to the central area where Eliza was waiting and she asked her the same question she had asked Lena a few days before. She offered Eliza to use the chamber as well.

 

“Can I think about it Kara? I’m not sure if I want to do it.” Eliza answered softly and Kara nodded in understanding. She had kind of expected that answer. “I really have to think about it for some time.”

 

“Sure. No problem. Just know the offer will not expire or anything. If and when you want the offer is still there.” Kara gave Eliza a quick hug as Lena walked in with her bag. She overheard the last part of the conversation and she knew Eliza would have doubts. She had talked with Eliza about it when Kara was asleep on the couch in Midvale and back then Eliza had already told her doubts.

 

After the hug Kara and Eliza grabbed their bags and everyone walked out of the fortress. Outside Kara called Cisco on earth 1 and within a few minutes he had opened a breach from Midvale to the Fortress so they could return.

 

They arrived back at the house in Midvale and thanked Cisco for the breach. He quickly returned to his earth and since it was early evening they decided to order in Chinese food. Eliza secretly made the order even larger than normal and they sat down in front of the television waiting for the food. Lena quickly got to her phone and caught up on the news and L-Corp. Nothing much had happened.

 

They chatted as they ate their dinners and soon all the food was gone. Lena stared accusingly towards Kara, but she pointed at the containers surrounding Lena and it was then that Lena realized her appetite had increased. Slowly, but steadily her powers started coming out and they decided to stay in Midvale at least another day so Kara could take her to a secluded spot in the forest and train her. When later that night Kara pointed towards Lena’s ice cream spoon and the 90 degrees angle it suddenly had, they all knew the strength had kicked in as well. Kara quickly helped her adjust to this and she had a grasp of it quickly. Much quicker than Kara had when she had arrived. This was the difference of learning from someone who has experience or someone who has a theoretical knowledge. Kara was thankful for what the Danvers had done for her, but with things like this she had wished Kal-El had been a larger part in her life.

 

It was in the middle of the night that Kara had woken up and noticed she was alone in bed. With small sleepy eyes Kara got up to find Lena. She turned on the bedside lamp and couldn’t contain a small chuckle. Flight = check. Lena was hovering at the nook of the roof and she was still sound asleep. Kara got up and got one of her old belts out of the closet. She hovered up to the roof, placed a belt around Lena and slowly pulled her down to the bed. When she had Lena in bed again she snuggled up to her and moved her arm through the belt. Proud of her solution to keep Lena grounded she smiled and quickly fell asleep again.        

 

Next morning over breakfast a laughing Kara explained to a belly laughing Eliza and a mortified Lena what had happened that night and why Lena woke up wearing a belt. They were still chuckling about it when Eliza left for work and Lena had resorted to fake glaring to make them stop. Even though Eliza had left, both of them were still hungry so Kara resorted to making the biggest omelet and pancake stack she had ever made. After eating it and putting on clothes they went to the nearby forest for practice. Kara had given Lena a pair of lead lined glasses that Cisco had made for her and just to be sure she had also taken the red sun bracelet.

 

They spend the entire day training and they quickly found out Lena was a natural. She had so much natural control it was more a lesson in teaching Lena how to let loose. After the training she had every power under control. There were some strength mishaps but those were because of muscle memory. Kara was ecstatic when she found out she now could actually feel Lena’s hug without the bracelet and after slowly trying she could also hug Lena as hard as she could. There was only one power that Lena didn’t control completely and that was flight. She could fly and hover for a few meters, but any higher and her fear of flying took over before she fell out of the sky.

 

Because of the progress Lena had made and to thank Eliza, Kara flew around the US to get all of their favorite meals from everyone’s favorite restaurants. That evening they all feasted on fresh lobster from Maine, pizza from Chicago, potstickers from China Town and hamburgers from Metropolis. Later that evening Lena flew back to National City on her private jet, while Kara took the scenic route along the coast carrying the trolley she got from Cisco. Now she knew that Lena was safe, it was time for her to get rid of Cadmus and Lillian once and for all.


	16. The Tables Have Turned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 99% sure the story will end at chapter 25. So several more chapters ahead :).

Kara talked with Lena about her Cadmus plans the day after they came back from Midvale. She wasn’t surprised that Kara was going after them and helped her with making plans. She knew her mother had to be stopped and didn’t blink twice when she offered to help plan. After all, planning and being strategic was one of the things that a Luthor upbringing had excelled in.

 

Sunday night, almost two weeks later, Kara was ready and had planned the attack in detail. It was tentatively planned for Tuesday night. It depended on when Cisco and Barry would be available, since she needed some help from them. She could have asked Kal-El for help, but she didn’t want to involve him. He has never been a team player and doesn’t connect with her like the earth 1 crew.

 

She had been tracking Lillian for the past two weeks using the fortress sensors and she knew exactly where Lillian was. She had only moved within an abandoned underground army base. A relic from the cold war. The base was located about 50 kilometers from National City and deep within a forest. There were several entry roads, but all looked like terrible dirt roads that were hardly used. Using the sensors she found that the building had several tunnels stretching for miles in all directions and came out of the ground near busy roads. One tunnel came out of the ground at a nearby army base, whose commander was trained by General Lane.

 

During those two weeks she had done a lot of recon. She had placed high magnification camera’s at all tunnels and roads leading to the base and they photographed every movement. She had a big list of people who visited what should be an abandoned base. She had several Generals and Colonels on photo and video, but also a few senators and other high ranking security officials including the warden of the prison where Lex was located. There was not much security and Lillian was clearly under the impression nobody knew about the base. Using the Fortress sensors once more she had monitored all electronic signals going in and out of the base. It wasn’t connected to any landline and the only communication came from several satellite dishes hiding between the trees. All communication had been recorded and they were orders from Lillian to some of the people who visited the base and status updates. Another added bonus was that she had found at least three moles within the DEO. One at the desert base and two at the City base.

 

Putting everything together Kara knew she had found Cadmus main operating base. Every photo, video and intercepted call she logged into one giant file. This was already enough to topple a large amount of high ranking officials, but she wanted to take out the whole organization in one strike.

 

Kara asked for a favor from Felicity and she decided to help. If there was one person who could hack into Cadmus it would be her. It took only a few hours for felicity to piggyback on to the satellite transmissions and break into the Cadmus servers. Their protection was not good and Kara thought it  was because Cadmus didn’t think anyone could find them there. Silently and low key Felicity downloaded all information on the servers and installed a small trojan horse that would synchronize any changes with Kara’s copy.

 

Both Kara and Lena went through the files and quickly found the motherlode. If there was one thing Lillian valued was loyalty and she wasn’t afraid to go after people who weren’t loyal. She had made trove of information on hundreds of people who worked for or with Cadmus. There was an file on every member and sympathizer of Cadmus which contained personal information, leanings, conviction to the cause, donations done, bribes received, blackmail information and more. There was also a list of all shell companies used by Cadmus to receive funding and pay bribes. It was everything any prosecutor would kill for.

 

Kara edited her entire Cadmus file and expended it with all information she had found on the Cadmus server.

 

Tuesday evening everything was done, checked and triple checked. Barry and Cisco were arriving in a few minutes and all of them would go over the plans. The attack was planned in the middle of the night, when the base was the emptiest. Kara was already dressed in her new suit and the gadgets were already sorted out. She had a few of every sort of grenade Cisco had developed. There were the Kryptolize and sun grenades, but also the E.M.P and stun grenades. Cisco had also added a new one, which would release a sleeping agent and knock out anything human within 20 meters. She also had syringes with that sleeping agent for quick and fast take downs. The liquid sunshine solutions were placed in the belt and the watch. She was ready.

 

It wasn’t long before Barry and Cisco arrived and they quickly ordered a bunch of food. All four of them went over the plans and Barry and Cisco were impressed with the planning. Cadmus was in for a surprise that night.

 

It was just before midnight that Kara decided to send Lucy a text message on an encrypted emergency phone.

 

Me:                       Hey Lucy. I want to give you a quick heads up. From around 0200 this night you can expect to get called (a lot). The desert and city base are going to be busy. Also, please make sure what surprises we leave behind will be kept there at least a day. Then it will all be clear.  

Lucy:                    What’s going on? What are you doing?

Me:                       I can’t say that just yet. You will find out later tonight if all goes well. If it all works out a big pain in your ass will be gone and a lot of high ranking officials will be done for. And to give you an advanced warning, it will also include your father. I’m sorry for that. But I think you will now know what will be happening.

Lucy:                     Thank you for the warning. And I think I know what will be going on. Good luck.

 

It was almost 0200 and Kara, Barry and Cisco were standing in the forest surrounding the base. Lillian was still in the base and according to the latest images Cyborg Superman was also there. It was going to be a party and Kara had her dancing shoes on.

 

“Good luck guys,” Kara said. “We all know what to do. Cisco, I will call you when I am done. Barry, good luck and have fun running.” Kara said with a wink. Both men nodded in understanding.

 

At exactly 0200 both Kara and Barry were in position. Kara gave the start signal when she threw the first sheet pile into the ground, blocking the base’s main entrance. She quickly closed of all exits before reinforcements could arrive or people could get out. When Kara gave the start signal Cisco immediately flipped a switch and enabled an signal jammer, blocking any signal except their headsets. Barry immediately ran to the satellite array and quickly disabled it by throwing lightning at it and blowing it away. The base was now cut off from the outside world.

 

When all exits were closed Kara quickly flew over the top of the sheet pile at the main entrance and landed doing the superhero landing. “Always wanted to do that,” she said to herself. Before she knew it the few guards that were at that entrance started shooting at her, but all bullets reflected of the shield she had quickly taken from her back. It were normal bullets and she smiled at the shooters while putting them one by one to sleep and then quickly cuffing them.

 

Next she worked from the top floor down. On the upper levels were only a few guards and those were no match for her. Some of them even put down their weapons and waited for her to take them out. It was around the fifth floor the resistance became tougher. These guards had professional training and some of them had Kryptonite bullets in their guns. They had time to switch out magazine’s since the start of the fight.

 

When she ran into the first group of soldiers with Kryptonite guns she faltered to ground in pain. The soldiers smiled and quickly walked towards her to restrain her. When the first three were next to here she quickly stood up and smiled at them. “Lol, just joking.” She hit all of them in the face with the shield in one swing. They were immediately knocked out and the remaining two soldiers started firing at her. They looked in horror at their guns as they saw the bullets just bouncing off her and that it didn’t have any effect. In one hit they were also knocked out.

 

On the seventh and eighth floor she saw several scientist and they didn’t put up a fight. She put them together in one room and threw a sleeping grenade in. After waiting a minute and catching her breath she collected the grenade and cuffed the scientists.

 

It was on floor nine she found the horrors of Cadmus. Several cells with aliens locked up and testing rooms. She tried to speak to every alien in there and a few understood English or their native language. She told them she was taking Cadmus out and she couldn’t release them just yet. Later she or the DEO would come by and release them and that they were safe now. They quickly thanked her and wished her good luck.

 

The tenth and final floor was where Cadmus main operation was located and where they mounted their final stand. On the three floors before there were no soldiers or guards to be found  and she saw through the walls they had used them to make a last stand at the tenth floor. Looking further she saw Lillian and Hank shouting commands and trying to get reinforcements. They couldn’t reach anyone.

 

Kara made an assessment of the situation and saw soldiers and guards waiting behind pillars and overturned tables. The other staircase had the same situation. She decided there was only one option. Just straight on plowing through and using some of Cisco’s gadgets.

 

 

While Kara was fighting in the base, Barry was knocking out Cadmus members one by one in their homes. Using the list Lillian had made of Cadmus members he went after the closest support units and then moved on to farther ones. He injected them with the sleeping agent, cuffed them and quickly moved them into a central location. When he had collected all in a certain sector Cisco would breach in and from there open a breach to the DEO desert base largest holding cell. Barry would then run them quickly through the breach. Only ten minutes had passed and Barry was already busy with the Cadmus members in National City. But before he was done there he quickly took a detour and knocked out the moles in the DEO and locked them up in separate isolation cells and attached a warning note to the doors. He kept going rounding up as many Cadmus members as he could find.

 

It was 0215 when Lucy got a call from agent Vasquez at the Desert base. She quickly answered the phone.

 

“Major Lane speaking. What is going Vasquez?” Lucy said. She needed to play dumb about the situation.

 

“Mam. We have a situation. Our holding cells are filling up with knocked out people coming out of nowhere. We see a blue orb in the room and then there are more people. All of them have a post-it with ‘Surprise’ stuck to their forehead.”

 

Lucy suppressed a giggle. Kara really was a dork. “Really. Out of nowhere?”

 

“Yes, Mam. A few guards who were in the room say the might have seen a red blur, but they are not sure. What do you want us to do Mam?”

 

“Please keep them locked up for now. I’m on my way. Call in some standby agents as well. I’ll alert Director J’onzz at the city base.”

 

“Okay. I’ll do that Major.” Vasquez responded. “Mam, I just got a report that three off duty agents are knocked out as well and have been placed in isolation. There was a note on the door to keep the locked up and that they were moles.”

 

“Do that agent,” Lucy responded. “I’ll take an emergency flight out and I’ll be there in under two hours. When I get there well figure out what to do.”

 

“Okay. Thank you Mam.” Vasquez hang up and on the other side of the line Lucy smiled as she mumbled under her breath “way to go Kara.”

 

Lucy was still dressed and had expected the call. She took her emergency suitcase, called for an emergency driver and that the plane was ready to go. In the car she put up the privacy screens and called Director J’onzz.

 

“J’onn J’onzz speaking.”

 

“J’onn, it’s Lucy. You better get to the City base and call up as many agents as you can. It’s going to be a busy night.”

 

“What’s going on Lucy?” J’onn asked as he quickly put on his clothes.

 

“We’re not exactly sure,” Lucy lied. “The Desert base detention area is overflowing with prisoners that are appearing out of thin air. Reports say a blue vortex appears and then a red blur. When it disappears there are new people cuffed and knocked out. Also a few DEO agents have been locked up in isolation with a note on the door saying they are moles. They need more people at the Desert base and I have a feeling it will be busy in the city as well soon. I am on my way now and I’ll be there under two hours.”

 

“Okay. I’ll see you soon Major.”

 

“See you soon.” Lucy responded an hung up.

 

By the time J’onn arrived at the City base prisoners had started appearing there as well and soon he quickly called in everyone he could find. He had a feeling what might be happening and he decided to call Alex in as well. It might have been her day off, but his 2nd in command was needed.

 

 

Kara was still formulating a plan of attack when she heard from Cisco that their operation was going smoothly and that they were almost done with National City. She smiled and decided to press on. She used her heat vision to burn a hole in the metal door and quickly threw a stun grenade through. The soldiers directly on the other side grabbed their ears and fell on their knees. Kara then pushed through the doors and quickly subdued them by knocking them on the head with her shield.

 

When she pushed through, the soldiers guarding the other door rushed over and fired from the flank. It would be a good tactic, if only their Kryptonite weapons had any effect. Soon they noticed the bullets didn’t work and they came closer to engage in hand to hand combat. That was a big mistake and Kara quickly drew her kali sticks from the shield. The shield she slung over her back and the stick she screwed together to make the bo-staff. She took a breather and visualized the situation. Several men were running up from all directions to engage into hand to hand combat while other were standing back with what looked like new weaponry.

 

First she decided to engage the targets closest. She fought like she never had before and it was elegant and smooth. She looked like a skilled fighter and had quickly knocked all of them out. They didn’t land a single punch. After taking out the last fighter she slid over the floor and jumped up. Immediately she was hit in the chest by a plasma rifle shooting a Kryptonite beam. She was thrown back on the ground, but only because of the force. Not because of the Kryptonite. It was neutralized before it reached her. She quickly hovered up in the air and grabbed the shield from her back. More shots were fired after she came up and she countered them with her shield. The beams went everywhere and some of Cadmus own men were hit and taken out. She took out the last few by throwing another sleeping grenade and they all fall down almost instantaneously.

 

It was now just Lillian and Hank left.

 

“Lillian, Hank. Long time no see. How have you been?” Kara asked cheekily.

 

“Hello Supergirl. I must say, I hadn’t expected you to find us here.”

 

“Well, it took some time to find you, but I’m here now. You want to come quietly or do I have to knock you out as well”

 

“You think I’m coming with you? It will be the last thing I do. Don’t forget, I have friends in high places. I will be out and free before breakfast.” Lillian said cocky.

 

“Really. That is funny. I shall ask General Lane, Robinson, Katcher and Ruso about that? Or maybe FBI director Hanssen? You know what, I’ll ask NSA director McGrath.” Kara looked at Lillian with cold anger and waited for a response.

 

Lillian swallowed hard. This wasn’t going her way. How did this filthy alien know about them. “So now what, you want revenge? You can’t prove anything Supergirl.”

 

“Really?. Look what has happened tonight for you. Your hidden base has been found, I took out all soldiers and guards without any problem, Kryptonite didn’t affect me and I know the names of some of the highest officials that support you.” Kara chuckled a bit. “I don’t want revenge, I’m here to take Cadmus down. And I must thank you for that actually. If you hadn’t done such good book keeping I wouldn’t have known about a lot of those people. But here is a little surprise for you. I hacked your servers weeks ago. I have the name of every Cadmus member and the people who donate to you. Let’s just say, they will have a nice surprise when they wake up next morning.”

 

Lillian couldn’t take it anymore and gave a small signal to Hank. He immediately blasted Supergirl with his heat vision. Kara had noticed the signal and held her shield in front of herself. The blast spread out and hit the walls around the chamber , dumping pieces of concrete on the floor. Kara smiled at Hank and with a burst of speed quickly jumped up trying to give a hard punch from above. Hank moved to block the hit, but the hit never came. Kara had changed plans just before impact and slid through Hanks legs, jumped up and placed the EMP grenade on his back. It stuck to his back out of his reach. Kara quickly moved back to the other side of the room and a few seconds later the EMP went off, disabling the Cyborg Superman. He froze and his cybernetics were disabled. Kara didn’t know how long this would work and quickly followed up by breaking of Cyborg Superman’s cybernetic arm and leg. At least he wouldn’t be able to move anymore. She finished him off by placing a small grenade in the hole where his cybernetic arms should have been. The grenade gave a massive electrical discharge and fried all cybernetics.

 

Lillian was looking on in horror as her most effective weapon had failed. She had underestimated Supergirl and now Cadmus had fallen. She wasn’t going to be taken in without a fight and had one last weapon.

 

Kara walked over to Lillian and tried to cuff her. When she did Lillian quickly turned around and tried to stab her in the abdomen with a red and green Kryptonite knife. Kara looked down in surprise and smiled at Lillian who had looked smug, thinking she had won.

 

“Really Lillian, you want to ruin my new suit as your last move? Didn’t I just tell you Kryptonite doesn’t work? But fine, have it your way.” Kara plunged one of her last syringe’s in Lillian’s neck and she quickly was fast asleep.

 

Kara looked around at her handy work and smiled. Cadmus was done for. She called Cisco that he could open a breach into the base and if Barry wasn’t busy that she could use some help. Kara went on and restrained all soldiers that she hadn’t cuffed yet and retrieved all her grenades. She secured the servers that were several floors up and destroyed all advanced weaponry as well. Today was a good day.

 

Cisco and Barry soon breached into the room and looked at Kara’s handiwork. Barry and Cisco’s mission had gone without a hitch and most of the Cadmus members were locked up. Kara called Barry for help as both of them started collecting bodies from the top floors and working their way down. It took some time, but they had collected all bodies and Kara had given some food to the aliens that were captive, while giving them the good news.

 

Instead of the desert, Cisco opened a breach into the City base holding cells because they had more manpower and these were the toughest soldiers. Barry and Kara both flew in and out of the breach moving men out of the base. Soon only Cyborg Superman and Lillian were left. Kara thought quickly and wrote a small note and attached it to their heads. Kara decided that she wanted to bring both of them in and started with Cyborg Superman. She lifted his body while Barry took the arm and leg. They moved through the breach and  left him an isolation cell. Kara quickly went back, collected Lillian and placed her into the isolation cell next door. She also stuck two small letters to the doors of the cells. She had one more thing to do and that was safely store the servers. She hid them in Winn’s office, where he never was.

 

When Kara returned to the Cadmus base she quickly checked the exits and so far there were no problems. She fortified a few and closed them up entirely. It was now almost 0500 and Cisco breached to Kara and Lena’s penthouse. Lena had heard everything that had happened and was immensely proud of all of them, but especially her fiancée. When they stepped out of the breach Lena hugged and thanked them all, but gave Kara a long kiss and a full on Kryptonian hug. Kara grinned, but quickly let go and threw herself on the couch. She was now feeling how tired she was.

 

Lena reheated several pizza’s using her heat vision and all of them sat down and rested while they ate. Kara threw out an yellow sun grenade as well to help her recharge since it was stull mostly dark outside. They sat in silence as the tension slowly dissipated from their body’s. All to soon Barry and Cisco needed to return home. Both Kara and Lena thanked them profusely and then they were gone. Kara hugged Lena again and she couldn’t believe Cadmus was finally done.


	17. Public Service Announcement

It was just past 0500 and the DEO was on fire. Everywhere were agents working and trying to find out what had happened and who the people in their holding cells were. That night over three hundred people had appeared out of nowhere and all were sedated and cuffed.

 

“J’onn, Alex, you might want to see this.” Winn called from behind his computer.

 

Quickly they walked over as Winn shows them the feed of Isolation room 1 and 2. They were empty and suddenly they saw Cyborg Superman in parts and Lillian Luthor slumped over.

 

Alex ran away to the cells with several more agents and checked out the situation. She noticed the letters on the doors and took them down. She checked on the people in the room and secured with better restraints. Several agents were left behind to guard the doors and Alex returned to J’onn and Winn and the command center. Lucy had joined them as well.

 

“Sir, There were two letters on the door. You want me to read them?” Alex asked.

 

“Go ahead.”

 

Alex started reading the letter out loud and recognized the handwriting as her sisters. At least now she knew Kara was back.

 

_To whomever finds this._

_I hope to have taken out Cyborg Superman permanently. I used an EMP on him, took off his cybernetic limbs and then electrocuted his cybernetics with an massive electrical discharge. I hope that it is all disabled now. Please don’t reattach his limbs. If it didn’t work, at least he can’t move anymore.._

_Greetings,_

_SuperWoman_

 

Alex continued with the 2nd letter.

 

_This is Lillian Luthor. She is uninjured, sedated and probably seriously pissed off. As to why? Turn on ‘Good Morning USA’ at 0700 and I’ll explain._

_Keep everyone who appeared at both bases locked up for now. After 0700 you will know why and all the evidence of their crimes will be made public. And keep all of this silent for now. I don’t want certain people to be tipped off. There are more players then just these people. One tip: call in all reinforcements and investigators you can. You are going to need them. Good luck._

 

“Okay,” Alex said. “It appears Kara is back and has changed her name. But what do we do now?”

 

Lucy decided to stop being silent and fill the others in on what she knew. They could maybe  anticipate a few things.

 

“Okay, I have a confession to make.” Lucy said. Alex an J’onn looked surprised at her. “I knew Kara has been back for several weeks and last night around midnight she gave me advanced warning something was about to go down.”

 

“What do you mean?” J’onn asked.

 

“She texted me on an emergency phone warning me the DEO would be busy starting around 0200 and that a lot of high ranking people are about to go down. She also mentioned my father would be included in this. That’s when I knew she was going after Cadmus. I couldn’t say anything before, but now I can.”

 

“Okay, so there is more to come. I’ll go call in all reinforcements I can get. Winn, put on that television channel and warn me when she comes on.” J’onn walked away and he knew it was going to be a long day.

 

Alex and Lucy were left and there was a bit of tension in the air. Alex desperately wanted to ask questions, but didn’t know how to start and Lucy didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to blow Kara’s trust in her. In the end it was solved because Lucy got a call from the Desert base and moved to her office. All they could do now was wait.

 

 

It was 0700 and Good Morning USA had been on for two hours. There wasn’t much news that Wednesday and there were a lot of fluff pieces being broadcasted. It was a few minutes after seven when the hosts noticed Supergirl walking into the studio. To say they were surprised was an understatement. With a nod from the producer they invited her on the couch and Supergirl was now live on television on the most watched morning show of the state.

 

“Good morning Supergirl. This is a surprise.” The presenter, Karin Summerfield, said. “We hadn’t expected you.” Her co-host, Jake Ryan, nodded in agreement.

 

“Yeaah,” Supergirl responded awkwardly, but loveable. “I have never been big on being on television, but this time it couldn’t be avoided. I wanted to say something to the people of America and this looked like the best way. I hope I’m allowed to do that? Also, I’m hoping to drop the Supergirl name. I was thinking about switching over to Superwoman. Supergirl I always found a bit degrading. Why is it Superman and not Superboy then? But I’m getting of track, “Supergirl rambled. “I was hoping to use some of your airtime to explain what I have been doing since my letter.”

 

The hosts looked at each other and the producers and they were given the all clear. “You can go ahead Superwoman.” Karin said with a wink.

 

“Thank you Karin and Jake.” Superwoman said sincerely. She turned over and looked at the camera. She was rubbing her hands out of nerfs and took a deep calming breath before starting. “So, people of National City and America. I want to thank you for your support after I released my letter. I was touched by all the sympathy and well wishes. Since the letter I have taken a vacation and have been working on a project of mine. That project I came to explain today and I want you to prepare, it’s a big one.”

 

Superwoman stood up and addresses the people from the middle of the set. “As of 0500 this morning Cadmus is finished. Several hundred Cadmus soldiers I have placed in federal detention and along them is Lillian Luthor, the leader of Cadmus.”

 

Collective gasps from the hosts and crew members were noticeable on the channel, but superwoman continued.

 

“This I have been working on for several weeks. I did this on my own and outside of the normal system for a good reason. When I worked with the government on this a lot of solid leads and intel turned out to be nothing. Bases were already empty or only a few people were there. But, a lot of things didn’t add up. To many close calls or ‘just missed them’ situations. I started to feel there was one or more mole’s in the government. As it turned out, I was correct.”

 

“By tracking the movement of certain people I suspected were part of Cadmus I found their main operating base. An old abandoned cold war military base that was connected to an still working military base. Cadmus never expected to be found there and security was lacking. A friend of mine, who is very skilled with computers, got into the Cadmus computers and there was the motherlode.”

 

“If anyone wants to thank someone for taking Cadmus down, they have to thank Lillian Luthor herself. She was so obsessed by loyalty and being prepared, she kept detailed information on all Cadmus members. Personal information, bank accounts, loyalties, etc.. But she also kept track of bribes they have given, or blackmail material, or donations received, what shell corporations were used, who was behind those and who sympathized with Cadmus. All neatly sorted and ready for her usage. It were thousands of files.”

 

“In those files I also found out why the normal Cadmus search never worked. All Cadmus incidents and intel needed to be passed through a senate commission. As it turned out, three out of five in that commission donate monthly to Cadmus. Good luck Mr. Connelly, Mr. Glass and Ms. Romanov. Maybe you can ask your friend FBI Director Hanssen for help? He has received almost two hundred thousand dollars from Cadmus in the last year so he will be on your side. Or perhaps NSA director McGrath? He donated almost a hundred thousand dollars two months ago.”

 

“And those are just a few of the high ranking officers that are named in those files. And let’s not forget the Military.  General Lane, Robinson, Katcher and Ruso didn’t even need bribes to work with Cadmus, they did it for free. And don’t forget several rich CEO’s who provided most of the funding for Cadmus. Lillian kept a nice paper trail to you as well. There is another major thing I found out in their files. That is a Cadmus project called ‘project Omega’. To put it simple. Cadmus had plans to explode a nuclear device using alien material in Washington DC. All those people I just mentioned were in on it. After decapitating the government they would take over and start a full on alien genocide under the guise of National Security.”

 

“Oh, and before I forget. Someone might want to check Metropolis federal prison. I found it a bit strange that the prison warden overseeing Lex Luthor’s incarceration had a nice meeting with Lillian and suddenly got a fifty thousand dollar influx in cash. Seems suspicious.” Superwoman shrugged her shoulders while conveying her sarcasm.”

 

“And if people want proof, as of two minutes ago I put all information on the people that are not locked up online at [www.cadmusdownfall.com](http://www.cadmusdownfall.com). The original documents, photo’s, video’s and servers I will hand over to the authorities after this message. I wish all of you the best of luck today and stay safe.”

 

Superwoman finished her monologue and walked back to the hosts who were looking at her like they saw a ghost.

 

“Okay,” Jake coughed a bit. “That is not what I was expecting. How did the take down go? Any problems? Last time I saw you fight Cadmus it took a lot out of you.”

 

Superwoman smiled. “It went well. I asked two friends for some support rounding up people that were off base. One you might have heard of. The blur guy that was once seen almost two years ago.” The hosts nodded at hearing his name again. ”And I knew I needed to do this mostly alone so I had a few surprises for Cadmus when I arrived there.”

 

“You mentioned Lillian and Lex luthor. Is there any implication against Lena Luthor?” Jake asked.

 

“None what so ever. If anything the opposite. Lillian Luthor had several contracts ready for when she needed to kill her. She was also afraid because of a purge going on at L-Corp to remove any moles. Several had been terminated already and she was losing access to technology.”

 

“Did you find any prisoners at the base?” Karin asked.

 

“ I found about a dozen aliens that were held prisoner there. Before I left I brought them food and water. I haven’t released them yet because they need to be debriefed and check out by a doctor. At least they are safe for now.” Superwoman looked at her watch and saw the time. “If you excuse me, I have to go. I need to drop of some evidence and take a long nap. Thank you for the time and allowing me to use your channel.”

 

“Okay. Thank you as well Superwoman and good luck.”

 

Kara walked out of the studio and now needed to do the thing she dreaded the most.

 

 

At the DEO base it was completely silent as Kara spoke on national television. J’onn and Lucy were already acting during the broadcast and quickly put orders in and ordered additional manpower. A shock went through the people when they heard all the people implicated Cadmus. Winn quickly went to website and showed it to the people in the room. It looked professional and well put together. Per person it showed all information available with links to the documents. The evidence was overwhelming. Kara had clearly learned a thing or two about how to present evidence and how to convince the general population.

 

It wasn’t long before they noticed a familiar cape flying in carrying a large crate. Nobody responded at first, but soon a few agents started to applaud her and a lot more followed. Kara started to blush and became a bit shy. She soon noticed Lucy and along with her J’onn, Alex and Winn. She signaled all of them to follow her and she took them to the conference room. Kara quickly whispered Lucy in her ear to send Maggie a text so she can get there as well.    

 

“Okay, before we continue I want to say that today I’m here professionally. Soon I might meet with all of you personally, but not right now. I had a tough two weeks and want to be full strength for that.

 

“Sure. I understand that Superwoman.” Lucy quickly spoke with a little smirk.

 

Kara smiled at Lucy and then addressed all of them. “First of all I’d like say that the servers of Cadmus are in Winn’s office and have been there since I placed Lillian here. That was for that moment the safest place and Winn is never there anyways. J’onn and Lucy, you might want to send a large amount of men to Camp Richardson. The Cadmus base is located a few kilometers north east of it in an old secret cold war bunker. It has five different tunnels as entrance points and the main one comes out at Camp Richardson. The base commander is an old protégé of General Lane. Almost all traffic for Cadmus came through that entrance. There are 15 aliens locked up at the base and they seem friendly, at least to me. You might want to join them as your original self J’onn to show that they don’t have to be afraid. And some doctors might be needed. All entrances to the base I closed off with sheet pile so some plasma cutters will be needed as well.”

 

“As to all other evidence I have that is in the crate next to me. Voice recordings, pictures, video, files, digital media, paper trails, etc. A copy of the server data is also in there. Let’s just say, there is enough for years’ worth of treason trials and soon there will be a few vacancy’s in public offices. As to how I got some of the information, I can’t tell you that. Let’s say alien technology helped with that.”

 

“Why didn’t you ask us for help. We would have helped you.” Alex pleaded.

 

“You know why Alex.” Kara sighed. “And I couldn’t take the risk. There were so many Cadmus moles that we couldn’t have kept it hidden. Taking it to the FBI was also not possible with their director compromised. This needed to be done completely off the books.”

 

“Did you really find the base by following a few suspects?” J’onn asked skeptically.

 

“No. Not at all. I can’t explain exactly how, but I asked a fellow alien if I could use his ships sensors. It scanned the planet and within a few minutes I had her location. The guy would let me know if she would leave and in the mean time I set up camera’s around the base. It took only a few minutes to find her. And a friend intercepted all their communication for me. They used satellites and very little encryption. I could track Lillian and follow who she called. It was really easy actually.”

 

“And how did you survive that base? They must have had Kryptonite?” Winn asked.

 

“They did. A lot of it actually. You might have seen this morning my new shield and suit?” All in the room nodded. ”Let’s say it has a few surprises. And a few friends have worked together to remove my Kryptonite allergy.” Kara said with a smirk.

 

Kara looked all of them in the eye and took a couple of breaths. There was one last thing to tell. “There is one more thing I want to tell before you look at the servers and the evidence. I only explained a small part of Project Omega on television. There is a lot more.”

 

“What more is there” J’onn asked and he was already afraid of the answer. He sensed something in the air.

 

Kara looked sad when she started to speak. “Project Omega was indeed planned to take out the government and have a select few take control. Their plan was to use alien explosives to blow up all of Washington DC and kill most officials. The FBI would then quickly blame aliens for this and round them all up to take them out as a matter of national security. Including me, Superman and you J’onn. They were already close to finishing and they had planned to do it a few months back. However they were stopped before they could act out their plan.”

 

Kara took a deep breath and with tears in her eyes she looked at Alex. She was wondering what the response was going to be. She feared anger, like it always has been.

 

“Alex, Jeremiah was the one working on the bomb. He had almost finished combining the alien elements when Cadmus gave him another element to add. He figured out what they were planning and the explosive power of the added element. It went from a few packages of C4 to a nuclear device. That’s where he drew the line apparently. They kept him on a cargo ship on the Atlantic ocean and as an act of rebellion he threw the new element overboard, sinking it several kilometers. With the mix he had made he blew up the entire ship. All scientists, guards and soldiers were gone. It was a major setback to Cadmus workforce and plans.”

 

Kara was silently crying and Alex was as well. J’onn quickly hugged Alex and Lucy did the same for Kara. After a few minutes of crying Alex asked softly. “When was this?”

 

“It was about two months after the Hoshin Frigate incident. I found out two weeks ago after we had hacked Cadmus their servers. But I couldn’t tell anyone back then because if word got out they knew they had been hacked. Only Lillian and Hank knew about this at Cadmus. I asked the same alien with the ship to scan the planet for Jeremiah and he didn’t find anything. Nothing on this planet can fool or block those scanners. Only if nothing is left will they give a negative result.”   

 

“I haven’t told Eliza yet,” Kara added gently. “Do you want to tell her or should I?

 

Alex sniffled a bit and thought about it. “Can you do that please. I can’t.”

 

“Sure.” Kara nodded. “I’ll do that when I’m done here. Also, Maggie is waiting for you outside the door. I asked Lucy to get her here before we started. Do you want to go meet her?”

 

Alex nodded and quickly walked to the door to get to her girlfriend. Before she opened the door and walked out she turned around, looked at Kara and said with heartfelt conviction. “Thank you Kara. Really. Thank you. I know you feel guilty about Jeremiah, but don’t. It’s not your fault.” Alex turned back and quickly fell in the arms of her girlfriend at the other side of the door.

 

Kara turned back to the room with tears in her eyes. “I don’t think I have anything more to tell for now. If you need more information you can tell Lucy. I’m going to fly to Eliza now. I think you have enough to do for the coming days. Good luck.”

 

Kara quickly stood up and flew out of the DEO. She didn’t want to break down and cry at the DEO. Even though she knew, losing Jeremiah now suddenly felt real. At the DEO J’onn directed everyone and soon Camp Richardson and the Cadmus base were besieged with DEO and Secret Service agents. The FBI was being kept out for now until the Cadmus spread was clear. The DEO and Secret Service were relatively small and quickly checked. There had been two moles in the Secret Service and two more in the DEO ranks.

 

It was almost an hour later that Kara arrived in Midvale. She had taken a breather on the way and had gotten some food in National City. The owner of the small family business refused her money and just thanked her for taking down Cadmus. He was quite fond of his Xillion neighbors. Kara accepted the food, but the amount she was supposed to pay she put in the tip jar.       

 

Kara was met by a gigantic hug from Eliza and a few frozen pizzas. Even after the meal on the way she was still hungry. While eating Kara told the real story how she had taken down Cadmus and what she had told the world and the DEO. Then Kara arrived at her visit to the DEO. She told her what had happened and then slowly broke the news about Project Omega and Jeremiah. They both cried, but Eliza soon recovered. She had already mourned him once and after what had happened at thanksgiving she knew he was lost to them. But she was glad that in the end he did protect all of them like he said he would. She also repeatedly told Kara she didn’t blame her, just like Alex had done. They spend another hour reminiscing and talking before Kara returned home and to finally get some sleep and cuddle with her fiancée. It had been a long 30 hours.


	18. When The Dominoes Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 24 will be the last in this story. There is a good chance that there will be a part 2 and it will be oneshots about Kara and Lena's lives.

When Kara had come back from Eliza Wednesday afternoon she had fallen asleep as soon as she sat down on the couch. Lena had walked in on the sight of Kara sleeping like a starfish and had lifted her to the bed. That was one benefit of her being Kryptonian, she could lift Kara now, Lena thought. When Kara had woken up Thursday morning she found Lena in her arms sleeping as well. She moved to the living room and turned on the television, to see what had happened since yesterday.

 

Apparently federal agencies could move fast if they wanted. Several senators had been detained while trying to flee the country, Camp Richardson was taken over by the Marines and large groups of soldiers were detained. Apparently the base served as an training camp for Cadmus to train new recruits straight from the army. All the Generals had been arrested a few hours after the broadcast and were currently in isolation. The FBI and NSA directors were fired and detained with dozens more in their agencies. The Governor of New York had immediately relieved all personal at the federal prison and taken the warden into custody. After a sweep of the prison they had found two cellphones and multiple letters in Lex his cell. He was transferred to another prison and placed in isolation for the foreseeable future. Dozens of government aid’s had been relieved of duty pending investigations. Courts had begun overflowing because there had been several judges fired or resigned because they had been bribed by Lillian for her and Lex’s trials. 

 

FBI, ATF, Homeland and the IRS had raided multiple corporations that funded material and money and more raids were being conducted at the moment. Dozens of CEO’s had been ousted by their company’s boards for their Cadmus support, committing fraud and embezzling money from their shareholders to fund Cadmus. Heads were rolling and they weren’t even halfway through the files. The government had underestimated Cadmus reach, but were getting caught up now.      

 

A large part of the ‘old boy’s network’ came crashing down and the people were loving it. Several media outlets were broadcasting 24 hours a day with the latest news and the Daily Planet had send Lois Lane and Clark Kent to National City for ground reporting. Images of the raid at Camp Richardson and the base had leaked to Lois Lane and had been running on repeat since that morning. People were horrified at what they saw on those images. The cell’s, the experimentation rooms and there were even furnaces where investigators had found alien and human bones.

 

What became clear was that Cadmus had infiltrated many of the political and private institutions, while trying to influence the people. Sifting through the data several reporters had found emails with talking points and advanced warnings between media owners, Cadmus and government officials. Several channels knew beforehand when an alien attack was to happen and what they needed to say about it. Those emails also went to some of the most anti-alien senators and officials. It quickly became clear those aliens had been tortured and driven crazy by Cadmus before being set loose.

 

Little by little people began to see that the anti-alien rhetoric and messages were being created and maintained by a group of influential people who pulled the strings behind the scenes, all for profits and influence. Preliminary findings were that 75% of the violent alien attacks had been orchestrated by Cadmus.

 

 

Three hours had passed since Kara had woken up and she had caught up with the world. Lena had woken up as well and had gone to work. Sam was still acting CEO, but only for four more days and Lena needed to be there with the Cadmus fallout.

 

Kara went over to the kitchen counter and grabbed her phone. She had several texts waiting for her. Clark and Lois had texted here that they were in town and proud of what she had done. Eliza had texted her that she was proud as well and there were several texts from Lucy. There were thumbs up, but also that she was working her ass off because of the massive ****storm that had come out of this and Kara now owed her a weekend at a spa to relax. There was also a text from Jess with thumbs up and the word ‘proud’. Clearly she and Lena needed to sit down with the far too smart assistant. 

 

With the television on in the background she went into to kitchen and fixed herself a big stack of pancakes. The next few days were going to be interesting.

 

 

Kara sat down on the couch in her home and let out a comfortable and happy sigh. Quickly Lena snuggled up to her again and resumed the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode. It was Friday night after a few long and turbulent weeks. Lena had finished finding new people for L-Corp and brought in some new talent. She was going to resume her CEO position the coming Monday now that new people had been found. Eleven people working at L-Corp had been fired that week for their ties to Cadmus. Jess was offered a promotion to COO and after some thinking had accepted it. She would first train for a week under Lena and then take over some of Lena’s responsibilities. Lena’s poaching of Eve Teschmacher had worked and she was going to replace Jess as the assistant. Eve had done a good job at CatCo and had proven to be an good fit with Lena. 

 

L-Corp had remained largely out of the frenzy that had become the current situation. Lena had given several interviews, none with CatCo, and had shown the reporters around. Even those reporters could see the difference between the L-Corp of Lena and the Luthor Corp of Lex and Lillian.

 

Kara had spoken with Eliza that afternoon about the Jeremiah situation and Eliza had decided to not have another funeral. He was never legally declared alive again and the only people who knew he was alive were their small circle. She was thinking about doing a small memorial in a few weeks, but wasn’t sure yet. For her, her husband had died 11 years ago.

 

Now she was snuggling on the couch with her fiancée and taking turns at grabbing potato chips from a literal bucket full. Their grocery bill had almost doubled since Lena had transformed, but the dirty, dirty kale was almost gone from the home and that was always good.

 

“Lee,” Kara said softly, not taking her eyes from the show. Heist episodes were the best. “I wanted to tell you that we will have visitors tomorrow for dinner.”

 

Lena didn’t turn either and kept watching the television. The Tramp’s had just announced themselves as contenders. “Sure, no problem darling. You might need to do some shopping tomorrow though. I need to get to the office for a few hours.” A few seconds past and both of them were silent. “Who’s coming to dinner actually?”

 

“No one special. Just my cousin and his wife.” Kara said nonchalant

 

Suddenly the shows pauses and Lena’s head snaps to the left. “What?” comes out a little bit higher than normal.

 

“Don’t worry Lee. Lois approves and Clark I reminded about his wife’s background. And since Lois approves Clark will as well. She is definitely the one who wears the pants in that relationship.” Kara chuckled at that.

 

“Do they know about me being Kryptonian? Or that I know his identity” Lena asked unsure.

 

“No, but I want to tell them tomorrow and explain everything. And he doesn’t know that you know and have known for a long time. Maybe you can make a joke about it when he walks in?”

 

“Sure, I can do that. It’s not like he can hurt me now.” She said cheekily.

 

Kara rolls her eyes. “It will be fine Lee. Trust me on that. And now for the love of Rao, please continue the episode Lee. I want to see who wins this year’s heist.”

 

Lena quickly continued the episode and they both sighed in contentment. The only other noise for the rest of the evening was the gasp 10 minutes later into the episode.

 

 

Saturday morning Kara had done the groceries and had actually cooked a good meal. She had made four lasagna dishes for that night. One for everyone. They were simmering in the oven and smelling deliciously. She and Lena had just changed their outfits. Instead of yoga pants is was time for some nice clothing. Lena opted to wear a tight fitted dark blue dress that made Kara swallow several times, while Kara went for a yellow summer dress with white dots that made Lena swallow a few times.  

 

It was around 5pm the doorbell rang and Kara quickly moved in to open the door. Kara invited them in and gave both Clark and Lois big hugs, while Lena opted for a handshake and two cheek kisses. She hadn’t met Lois before and Clark only at the Venture crash, so she wasn’t going to hug them.

 

“Welcome to our home.” Lena said to the both of them. “Lois, can I take your coat? And Clark, do I need to hang up your glasses and cape or are you cool?”

 

There was a moment that everyone was silent and Clark eyes grew several sizes, but then both Lois and Kara went into a laughing fit while Lena looked triumphant.

 

“Kara, you told Lena about me?” Clark asked accusingly looking less than happy.

 

“No, I haven’t. She has known about you wearing a cape for years.” Kara was still laughing and Lois was removing tears from her eyes. “She has known about my cape ever since our first meeting. And don’t worry, she won’t tell.”

 

Clark nodded. “Okay. And thank you Lena for keeping my secret.”

 

“No problem, Kal-El.” Lena said with a wink. “And if you will follow us to the living room, it will be much more comfortable to get to know one other.”

 

“Sure, lead the way.” Lois answered and all the moved from the hallway to the living room.

 

Conversation was surprisingly civil and Kara got the feeling Lois had warned Clark before coming here. Kara explained the entire Cadmus story again, but used the DEO version for now. She first wanted to have dinner before explaining everything else. Lois and Clark were really proud of Kara and let her know that, while also calling her Superwoman. Kara was smiling ear to ear and it was 6 pm when they decided to go eat.

 

At the dinner table Clark nearly fell over when he heard that Kara had cooked and hadn’t burned the building down. The food was actually good and edible, which surprised everyone at the table, earning them a scowl from Kara. Conversation flowed freely between all and there was no animosity to find. Kara could see Lois and Clark exchanging glances when they looked at the amount Lena ate and it amused Kara and Lena immensely. At the end of the main course all dishes were empty and even the Kryptonians had enough. Kara decided to be a bit cheeky and hovered out of her chair to get the desert. After eating the desert they went back to the living room and talked some more. When there was a small lull in the talking Kara decided to tell Clark about her Fortress visit and Lena’s transformation. 

 

“Clark, I have to tell you something.” Kara started with. “It’s involves you as well Lois and to a certain extend Lena. Especially now.” Clark nodded that she could continue and she did. “As you know I wanted to visit the Fortress and asked you if I could go there.” Clark nodded again. “ Well, I have been there several times now already and it has lifted a giant weight of my shoulders. But, you really should have learned Kryptonian when I wanted to teach you.”

 

“What do you mean? Clark asked and was a bit surprised.

 

“Well, have you never thought about how Kelex warned you about my pod’s arrival on earth?”

 

“No. Not really.” Clark was now frowning and thinking about where Kara was going with this.

 

“Clark, the Fortress isn’t just a few statues and the Kelex robot or made just for you. It was also for me and there are holograms of my parents as well as yours there. I know you have no clue what sort of technology Krypton had, but I have. When I went there I accessed the main computer and have been studying it ever since. Clark, the fortress contains all knowledge Krypton ever produced. Books, music, blueprints, theories, concepts, everything.”

 

Both Clark and Lois gasped at what they knew would be vast amounts of knowledge.

 

“I’m sorry Kara. I never knew. I never really thought about how advanced Krypton must have been.” Clark said with sorrow.

 

“Trust me, a lot more advanced. But there is even more. Clark, the fortress isn’t just one floor. There are several floors into the ground. What I found out there is even more amazing. While Jor-El was busy building the pods and building the fortress, my father was developing things for us personally and fillings the fortress with knowledge. He gathered all the knowledge to put in the fortress and he made several more things.”

 

Kara took a deep breath before continuing. “Clark, do you know at which rate we age?”

 

“Not really. I know we age slower, but that’s about it.”

 

“Clark, my father calculated it on Krypton already. We will easily grow five thousand years old.”

 

Lois and Clark looked at each other and Kara could see the silent conversation between them and the sadness as well.

 

“I know Clark. I know what this will mean. We will outlive all our loved ones. But that was something my father had been working on and what he managed to finish.”

 

“What did he do?” Clark asked hesitantly.

 

“Lena, if you do the honors.” Kara said.

 

All eyes turned to Lena who decided to hover above the couch and light a few candles with her heat vision. Both Clark and Lois quickly stood up in surprise at what was happening.

 

“Kara, what is going on. How does Lena have our powers?”

 

“There is an simple answer Clark. Zor-El made a conversion chamber. It can turn humans into Kryptonians. I have taken Lena and Eliza to the fortress a few weeks ago and we studied the chamber. After we found it safe Lena used it and a few hours later she was Kryptonian.”

 

Lois and Clark had were gasping and had their mouths open.

 

“I asked Lena if she wanted to become Kryptonian. We both know we will be with each other forever. Krypton didn’t have divorces and Lena happily agreed to honor that tradition with me. This way we will spend a long time together.”

 

“And how does it feel Lena? Feel any different?” Lois asked.

 

“Not really,” Lena answered honestly. “I have a lot more energy and can do things a lot quicker. Reading a report takes a minute instead of two hours now. But, the food bill is a lot higher. Although for me that isn’t really a problem.”

 

Lois smiled at that. “And how is your control?”

 

“Excellent if I may say so myself. I had all powers under control within a day. Kara actually had to teach me how to let loose some of the control to be able to use some of the powers.”

 

“Don’t let her fool you though,” Kara added with a smile. “She has everything under control except flight. The first few meters go good, but any higher and she falls out of the sky like a brick.”

 

Lena fake glared at her fiancée. “Yes, well. I might be Kryptonian now, but I still have my fear of heights. That will take some time.”

 

Kara returned to Clark who was hearing everything they were saying. “Clark, I needed to tell you this because I was thinking that maybe you and Lois would also want this. It takes about a normal weekend worth of time and the procedure itself takes around five hours. Although the tough part will be getting the powers under control.”

 

It was Lois who answered Kara. “I want to think about it a bit, but if Clark want’s it I’m 99% sure I’ll do it.”

 

“Okay. Let me know and I help you. Everything is Kryptonese so you need me to translate everything. But since I am jobless at the moment I have the time.” Kara said with a wink and everyone chuckled at her joke. “But, there is a lot more I have to tell you. You’re ready?”

 

Clark and Lois nodded and sat a bit more forward listening intensely.

 

Kara went on to explain about the sensors, the birthing chamber, the healing chamber and everything else she had found so far. Everyone listened and was amazed at what Kara had found out. Clark was really regretting not having learned Kryptonese at that moment. Kara also explained that Lena was learning Kryptonese and was becoming good at it. She also told them about the terraforming technology and that she and Lena were planning on making those machine’s, but based on human technology as much as possible. Clark looked a bit troubled at first, but he was quickly convinced when they explained how much the technology was needed. It wouldn’t solve everything, but it would be a big step forwards to saving the planet.

 

The evening was almost ending when Kara decided to give Clark two small presents. Clark quickly took the wrapping paper from the first gift and looked funny at the little cube. She then explained that it was an Kryptolize cube and what it does, causing Clark’s eyes to grow comically large. Kara made him promise to never tell anyone about the cube or how it works and that the same thing applied to the next gift.

 

Lena was already giggling when Clark started opening the second present and Clark was really confused to what it was. When he saw the bracelet he still hadn’t got a clue. Kara sighed, grabbed the bracelet out of Clark’s hand and put it on his wrist. He didn’t notice anything different until he saw Lena whispering Lois something and Lois her smile extended ear to ear. The moment he knew what the bracelet did was when Lois slapped him in his face and this time he actually felt it.

 

After a bit of stuttering from Kara explaining why she had this made, bot Clark and Kara had red ears while Lois and Lena looked content. Those two got along like a house on fire and had already exchanged contact information. It was clear to all of them the night had come to an end and they all said goodbye to one other. Lena also hugged Lois and Clark this time, while giving Clark the full Kryptonian hug.

 

It was well after midnight that Kara and Lena finally were comfortable in bed and Kara was drawing little signs on Lena’s leg with her fingers. They were face to face looking at one other.

 

“I told you Lee, all went well tonight. Lois loved you, a bit too much to my liking, “Kara added with a little smirk. “and Clark loved you as well.”

 

“They did, didn’t they.” Lena answered softly. “I must say, I really liked them as well.”

 

“Are you tired already?” Kara sked innocently.

 

“Not really. Why?”

 

“We could test if our bracelets haven’t broken down since yesterday eveni…….” Before Kara could even finish that sentence Lena was kissing her deeply and the intent in it made sure it was going to be a lovely night for the both of them.


	19. The Text

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Yes, another chapter already. Simply put, i am done with the story and probably will post the remaining chapters before christmas :P. There is a good chance for a part 2, but those are mostly one shots of this universe. 
> 
> \- Also, there is a little reference in this chapter. Good luck finding it.

It had been a busy week in the Luthor-Danvers household. Lena had gone back to being the L-Corp CEO and was already implementing new ideas. She used to struggle with the board, but since the fall of Cadmus two had resigned because they were named in the files and one was against the pro alien policies at L-Corp. Lena had quickly called a meeting and as majority shareholder nominated several new board members, who instead of being empty suits, were people that wanted to make progress and better the world. With appointing them she had successfully removed control of the board from the old Luthor Corp hangovers, while at the same time not losing investor confidence.

 

Jess was already taking over duty’s for Lena and had been making quite the splash at L-Corp. Rumors were already going around about how she had politely but efficiently talked someone into almost crying after he had condescendingly asked if she could get a cup of coffee for him while the important people talked.

 

Eve had taken over without any problems and with only minimal help needed from Jess. They had been quite good friends already before Eve was poached, since they were both members of a semisecret assistants club. Kara had also been a member of that club and was considered somewhat of a legend because she had stuck it out with Cat Grant for three years.

 

While L-Corp was flourishing and thriving, CatCo Magazine had been lagging behind. The magazine numbers were down and the website was visited less. Ever since Supergirl had stopped giving CatCo exclusives viewers had left and the gap wasn’t being filled in. Seasoned reporters and promising talent where leaving at an alarming rate and the magazine was filled with a lot more filler and fluff pieces. One of the most heard complaints was that there was no direction the magazine was heading. An attempt was being made at filling Supergirl’s gap with Guardian articles, but people didn’t trust the Guardian. While Supergirl didn’t share her name, she shared her face and wasn’t just a big grey mask with a voice changer.

 

Sam had already found and hired an agency that was inspecting CatCo magazine and seeing how it is doing from an objective standpoint and compared to other businesses. The preliminary report had come out that week and had been shocking. While CatCo itself was solid, CatCo magazine was in trouble. Employees were unsatisfied, not happy and trust was low. Department heads had no direction to follow, were running around like headless chickens and magazines came out just in time and it was always a mad rush before the deadline. Lena had quickly searched for and found an experienced CEO that had an excellent reputation as an reformer, to monitor the situation and work as an shadow CEO to get a feeling for CatCo magazine.      

      

But even with all this happening this past week and catching up from the sabbatical, she was still more relaxed than ever before. She worked from 8am till 5pm and got more done in that time then she ever had. Having Jess taking away a lot of tasks and the fact she could now do things a lot faster, she was thriving. For meetings and conference calls with other time zones she had rearranged her home office so she could handle those from home and to be safe a busy light had been installed next to the door. People didn’t need to see Superwoman walking in when she was videoconferencing.

 

 

While Lena had gotten back to L-Corp, Kara had spent Monday with Lucy answering more questions and talking about the Cadmus takedown. Things were looking good so far and a lot more monstrosities and other incriminating evidence had been found at the base and on the servers. Most fugitives had been captured and some had turned themselves in. Lucy was going back to Washington that evening to oversee the fallout there. So far her last name hadn’t caused any problems since most people knew that like Lois, she had very little contact with her father and didn’t see eye to eye with him.

 

One major benefit of the takedown and the sudden influx of hundreds of prisoners was that allies had given their support and the investigation was being monitored and helped by the British and European investigative agencies. With their help, new investigative paths were discovered every day.  

 

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Kara had been in Japan helping the country dealing with the aftermath of a major typhoon. She was flying around airlifting emergency vehicles and personal to area’s that were otherwise not reachable. By using her strength and blowing she quickly opened up main roads and cleared airfields, opening them up for emergency help. She was strutting bridges that had been damaged and with help from Superman, who came to help one night, she put up emergency tenting for several thousand people in under an hour. She kept working for three days, with a few hours’ sleep every night, and by the time evening fell on Thursday her work was done.

 

After three exhausting days she spend Thursday night snuggled up on the couch with Lena by her side, while watching ‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’. It wasn’t late in the evening before she called it a night and went to bed early, catching up on some sleep. It wasn’t until a few hours later that Lena joined her.

 

It was the next day during dinner that Kara decided that she had waited long enough and was going to do the last thing that was bugging her. She had been thinking about it since the week before, but then it was too soon after everything with Cadmus.

 

They had just finished dinner when Kara decided to approach the subject. “Lee, what would you say if I wanted to invite Winn, J’onn, James, Alex and Maggie over next week to talk? I thought I had mostly finished that chapter of my life, but after seeing them last week I think I want to talk to them. It is still bugging me a bit and it will keep doing that if I don’t confront them. What do you think?” Kara asked hesitantly. She was still pissed about how they had treated her, but at the same time she was missing them. Some more than others.

 

Lena smiled softly at Kara. She knew this was coming and had expected it earlier if she was being honest. “If you want to do that, I’ll support you. But what do you want to come out of meeting them? Clearing the air? Forgiving them? Or saying goodbye?”

 

Kara smiled softly as well, but at the same time frowned a bit. “I don’t really know. Forgiving maybe, but not right away. Too much has happened to forgive and forget. Mostly I just want to talk to them and find out if they even really cared about what has happened. Maybe it is possible to rebuild some things, but it will take time. They hurt me too much and too deeply to fix things with an ‘I’m sorry’.”

 

“I agree Kar. When were you thinking about doing this?”

 

“Maybe next Friday evening? The part of the DEO in the Cadmus investigation should be mostly done by then and if needed they might be able to still switch shifts. What were you thinking?” Kara asked.

 

“Next weekend sounds good. This weekend is too short notice and I want to spend some time with you since you have been in Japan for several days.”

 

“Then I’ll let them know this weekend.” Kara said and finished this part of their conversation. “What do you want to do tonight?”

 

“I was thinking maybe we could go out a bit? Maybe something like National City Science Museum? They have two new exhibits that are interesting. One about early space exploration and another one about prehistoric times. They even have part of the skull of a Mosasaurus.” Lena tried to not look excited about it, but she failed. Dinosaurs and space have always been a passion of her.

 

“Sure. Sounds like fun. I wonder if they have proof of extraterrestrial life? Kara said cheekily with a wink.

 

“Shush. Go and get some normal clothes on. Yoga pants are not appropriate date wear, no matter how nice they look on you. I was smart and am still dressed nicely from the casual Friday at L-Corp.”

 

“Fine.” Kara quickly got up and super speeded to the bedroom and put on some nice clothes. Within a few minutes both woman were out the door, ready for a fun night out on the town.

 

 

\----------------------------Two days later----------------------------

 

It was Sunday morning, almost 11 am, and Alex was vast asleep after the grueling week and last night’s night shift. With the very public and very humiliating Cadmus takedown the DEO and several other agencies had been drowning in work and had been pulling double shifts for more than a week. Only two days ago the workload had been reduced enough to go back to normal staffing and ending the double shifts.

 

Maggie was cleaning the apartment a bit. The police hadn’t pulled double shifts, but everyone had worked longer hours. Federal manpower ran short and the NCPD was asked to help with prisoner transports. She had several longer shift, but not noticeably many.

 

Just after eleven Alex came out the bedroom after only a few hours’ sleep. She was sniffling and on the brink of crying. Maggie quickly walked towards her and hugged her. “What going on Al?”

 

Alex sniffled more on Maggie shoulder and after a few moments let go and showed Maggie her phone. Maggie took it an read the text message.

 

_Alex,_

_I’d like to invite you and Maggie to my home next Friday at 8pm to talk. I’m inviting Winn, J’onn and James as well. Don’t waist this chance. It’s the last one any of you will get. Greetings, Kara_

_Oh, the address is 2020 Washington Road. Report to the concierge, he will send you up._

 

“I’ve missed her so much Mags. I know I screwed up big time and multiple times, but I have really missed her these past four months. I really love my sister, even though I didn’t show it.” Alex said sobbing.

 

“I know Al. But it looks like there is a chance to make it better. Please focus that”

 

“I will. I’m just hoping it will be enough.”

 

Alex fell into Maggie’s arms once more and stayed there for some time crying and hoping.

 

 

J’onn was at the office trying to finish a mountain of paperwork. While Cadmus had been taken down, several forests had been destroyed because of the paperwork needed to be filled in. He had been working for several hours and was hoping lunch was coming up. He looked at the clock on his desk. _Dammit, only 11.10 am_. At that same moment he felt his phone buzzing and a text message came in.   

 

_J’onn,_

_I’d like to invite you to my home next Friday at 8pm to talk. I’m inviting Winn, Alex and James as well. Don’t waist this chance. It’s the last one any of you will get. Greetings, Kara_

_Oh, the address is 2020 Washington Road. Report to the concierge, he will send you up._

 

J’onn smiled. He had missed the happy Kryptonian, even if he now knew the smile had been fake. He had hoped that she was going to be open to a conversation at some point. He had thought about going to her, but he also knew that Kara doesn’t respond well to be rushed. She needs time to gather her feelings and to let her process things at her speed. He quickly noted the time and date in his calendar and classified it High Importance. This was one meeting he was not going to miss.

 

 

Three floors down Winn was studying a piece of a gun that had been found in the Cadmus base. It looked to be part alien and part human made. Clearly Cadmus wasn’t shy to use alien technology he thought to himself. For the past week and a half he had been sleeping in his office pretty much, pulling double duty’s like the rest. He was using a small pliers while trying to connect a fragile wire to a very sensitive chip when suddenly his ringtone went off. He almost broke the wire because he was startled and gently put the pliers down. He opened is phone and read the text.

 

_Winn,_

_I’d like to invite you to my home next Friday at 8pm to talk. I’m inviting J’onn, Alex and James as well. Don’t waist this chance. It’s the last one any of you will get. Greetings, Kara_

_Oh, the address is 2020 Washington Road. Report to the concierge, he will send you up._

 

He smiled. Maybe there was a chance to clear things up and become friends again. He had missed Kara since she had been gone, even though he hadn’t noticed her missing and he still didn’t know how he had not noticed it.

 

 

James was sitting at his desk at CatCo. He knew he was in trouble. He was losing reporters and was losing their trust. Magazine sales, website visits are down and rumors were circling that the magazine was being inspected. On top of that he hadn’t been Guardian in almost two weeks since the man in the van was busy pulling double shifts ever since Cadmus had fallen. Another failure. They used to be the news source for everything Supergirl, but that had changed. Kara had published that letter in the Daily Planet and not CatCo. Breaking the news of the Cadmus takedown had not been on CatCo channels, but the competition. And to top it off Guardian still was not trusted. No matter how positive he made his writers write about him.

 

He was on his sixth cup of coffee of the morning, just before noon, when he got a text. Hoping it was Winn he eagerly opened it, but it wasn’t Winn.

 

_James,_

_I’d like to invite you to my home next Friday at 8pm to talk. I’m inviting J’onn, Alex and Winn as well. Don’t waist this chance. It’s the last one any of you will get. Greetings, Kara_

_Oh, the address is 2020 Washington Road. Report to the concierge, he will send you up._

 

“Finally,” He mumbled to himself. “I knew she couldn’t stay away. Maybe now we can talk some sense into her.”

 

 

Unknown to everyone, Kara had been hovering nearby at every text she had send and was watching and listening to their reactions. First impressions are important and she knew everything she had to know for now.


	20. Don't Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out

It was a week later and everyone had arrived. Twenty minutes to early Alex and Maggie had arrived, Winn and J’onn soon after while James had made it just before eight pm. Kara had decided that sitting in the living room was to informal for this so she had opted to use the dining room for this conversation. She and Lena sat together on one of the broad side’s while the guests sat on the opposite side. There was a noticeable tension in the air and she felt like a coiled up spring, ready to burst.

 

Lena, ever the gracious host, knew how to handle tension and quickly asked if anyone wanted a drink. She quickly made her way to the side table and got Winn and J’onn a coffee, James a scotch while Alex and Maggie went with Coke, just like Kara and Lena.

 

“So, I texted all of you because I wanted to have at least one conversation about everything. But before we start I want your words that whatever we say and tell won’t be made public or be published. These are private conversations and I want to keep it that way.” Kara told them. She wasn’t smiling and looked serious. She wasn’t really in a joking mood tonight.

 

Everyone nodded and could see she was being serious. This was a side they had almost never seen of her. Clearly the angry phase wasn’t completely over yet.

 

“What I like to know is why?” Kara started with. Her voice was void of any emotion. “Why did all of you forget about me? How could you treat me that way? I was always there for you and helped you, even if it went against my own happiness.” She had started calm, but was already become agitated. Lena quickly held on of her hands and rubbed them soothingly with her thumb. Getting angry was not helpful today. Kara turned and looked at her and with her eyes thanked her for doing that.

 

Nobody said anything after that and it was Winn that broke the silence. “First off, I’d like to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry for how have been treating you Kara and you as well Lena. If there is anyone who should know not to judge by a name it is me. Kara, in my mind I always see you as Supergirl and Kara Danvers at the same time. So when I talked to you at the DEO I never differentiated between the two. I should have done that though. While you are the same physically, you are not mentally. Kara Danvers is who you are and Supergirl is a ‘work suit’ for the lack of a better term. Talking about work and aliens at the DEO isn’t the same as talking about a new movie on your couch and to my shame I forgot about that. That’s why I didn’t notice we spend less time together as our normal self’s. I kept seeing Supergirl at the DEO and my brain linked it to seeing Kara as well.” Winn looked at Kara and so far noticed no reaction. “As to forgetting about your birthday and the day of Krypton’s destruction I am really sorry. I have no excuse. I should have remembered it but I didn’t. I shouldn’t have relied on you to remember me about it. The same goes for game nights. The first time I cancelled I really couldn’t come, but after that I was with James going out as Guardian those nights. I should have proposed another night for game night and told you what was going on.”        

 

Winn looked at Kara and notices she was studying him. She wasn’t wearing her glasses and clearly listening intensely. After a few second Kara nodded. “Thank you Winn. This clears up a lot of questions. I have not forgiven everything yet, but I’m working on it. At least I hope we can rebuild to some sort of friendship.” She offered him a little smile and he let out a breath he didn’t knew he was holding.

 

Next was J’onn. He looked at Kara directly and she could already see the sorrow in his eyes. “Kara, I am really sorry for the part I played in everything and like to give my apologies. I should never have allowed that tracking chip to be placed. I allowed it because I was afraid for you. You had just fought the latest Cadmus monster and had solar flared. I kept wondering what would happen if you had solar flared and the DEO wasn’t there. We had no way to track you if anything happened. I should have talked to you about it after you had woken up and only done it after you consented. What happened when we first met is something I didn’t want to do, but needed to do this way. Otherwise it would be to suspicious. Every alien was brought in that way and I couldn’t let people know that me and Alex knew about you already. So I’m afraid we will continue to have different opinions on this. But my mistake was not explaining this afterwards to you. I guess the support to track down the weapons and Kryptonite isn’t really a point anymore. The people that needed to sign off on this, and refused to do, you have send to jail already. Which I want to thank you for. I never knew Cadmus had infiltrated so many branches of government. As for the reimbursement for food, that is my mistake. I should have known you wouldn’t ask for it unless you had to and I didn’t.”

 

“I’m also sorry for missing your earth-birthday and the day of Krypton’s destruction. I shouldn’t have forgotten the latter. The day I fled Mars is still an difficult day for me and I was already two hundred years old by then, so I can only image how it is for you. And on your earth-birthday I was in Washington. I should have texted you at the minimum. I actually had your birthday on my calendar, but I forgot it with the continuous meetings that week. I really hope you can forgive me for my faults in this. I never mend to hurt you.“          

 

“Thank you J’onn. I appreciate your apologies. I hope we can work back to an point where I can call you ‘space dad’ again. But like with Winn, it will take time. I hope one of these day’s we can have a talk as well about me and the DEO and set some clear boundaries.” Kara said honestly. She could see where J’onn was coming from, but it still stung a bit.

 

J’onn nodded in understanding and smiled a bit about being called ‘space dad’. He knew it would take time, but there was some progress made.

 

Alex and James looked at each other deciding who would go next. Alex wanted to go first and decided to do so after James only shrugged indifferently.

 

“Kara, I am so sorry about everything.” Alex was already tearing up after only speaking a few words. “I never mend to hurt you the way I have. I have been a terrible sister for a long time now. I already apologized before, but I am truly sorry about what I did at Thanksgiving with Jeremiah. The same goes for me pushing you to Mon-El. I should never have done that and I should have listened to you about him.” Alex takes a deep breath to stabilize her voice and the tears that are threatening to spill. ”Placing the tracker was something I should never have done. I did it with the best intentions, but I should have talked to you about it. I thought if I didn’t tell you that you wouldn’t have to lie since your terrible at it. But I forgot you in this.” Ales sniffled a bit more and Maggie quickly rubbed her shoulder. “As for forgetting Krypton’s destruction and your earth-birthday I really am so sorry. I don’t know how I have forgotten about it. I have been with you for years on those days and now I completely forgot. I don’t have any excuses. I’m also terribly sorry about never talking to you anymore or having sister and game nights. I did the same thing as Winn did. The time you spend as Supergirl at the DEO with me I counted as Kara time and that clearly isn’t the case. But there is also another reason.”

 

Alex takes a few deep breaths before dropping somewhat of a bombshell.

 

“After you left I actually did two things I never thought I would do. The first thing is I stopped drinking. I did it too much and for the wrong reasons. I’m actually three months sober now. And the second thing is I voluntary went to see a therapist. I have been going to her twice a week since you left. I have done a lot of talking and with her help I think I found out why I dropped you almost completely out of my life.” Alex left a bit of silence, but Kara nodded for her to continue.

 

“Ever since you came to live with us, my parents gave you all the attention I used to get. Suddenly I had to share everything with another person. I was really jealous of you even though you struggled with fitting in and your nightmares. Because of that I shut you out when I went to university and never told you when I was recruited to the DEO. It was something just for me and somehow I was afraid if I let you in that you would steal the spotlight and I had to share the attention again. But every time something went wrong and I would blame that on you and lash out. Dad got taken and I blamed you because we went flying. I became an alcoholic in college and blamed it on you because of the pressure of having to be ‘the perfect sister’ and taking care of you. I got recruited by the DEO and a few years later you save me and I was afraid again of sharing the spotlight and something going wrong. I used to idolize my dad growing up, so when he came back I didn’t want to hear a bad word about him. When you questioned his motives, I lashed out. The same happened with Maggie. It was something just for me and if I let you in too much you might take the spotlight or ruin it. So subconsciously I pushed you away. That was also one of the motives that I kept setting you up with Mon-El. I knew he liked you and if you and him got together, you would have less time to ruin things for me.”

 

Alex sighed. This was something she had so far only revealed to Maggie and the therapist and to do it so public was difficult. But she knew unless she was honest things would never work out again.

 

“I have been working on this with her. Finding balance between work and personal time, my anger towards you, my anger in general and my jealousy. I want to make clear though that you don’t deserve any of the anger and cold shoulders I have given you. This is on me, not you. Again, I am really sorry for the way I have treated you in the past and I hope in the future I can show you that I’m different.”

 

Kara hears her sisters story and sees she is genuine about her excuses, her sobriety and seeing a therapist. “Alex, I have to admit that before tonight I was doubting what to do. You have deeply hurt me. I accept your apologies, but there is still a long road ahead before we will become as close as we were. What I do want to say is I’m glad you stopped drinking and went to see a therapist. If you hadn’t done that I don’t think I would be willing to give this another shot and try to mend fences.”

 

Alex looked relieved and tears were now freely falling. _She had a chance to make things better with her sister_ , she thought to herself.

 

Surprising everyone, Maggie spoke up. “I’m afraid I also have to apologize. When Alex and I started dating she often told me about you and how important her sister was. When your sister nights became date nights for us, because of our schedules, I thought she would have rescheduled them. I never realized that she never did that, even after we pretty much lived together. I never asked or thought about that she never went to see you or that I hardly saw you. At least, without your cape.”

 

“Thank you Maggie. I appreciate that, but it is not needed. We haven’t really spend much time together, except at crime scenes. So I understand you not thinking about that.” Kara responded. She hadn’t expected Maggie to speak up as well. There was now only one more and that was one she was already dreading.

 

“Kara,” James started. He tried too, but didn’t sound sincere. As if he was rolling through the motions. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you at CatCo and …...” James was cut off by Kara before he could finish his sentence.

 

“James, before we continue I want to you to answer two questions. The first one is: Have you still been spreading rumors and fake news about Lena to people at CatCo or in private?”

 

“No.’ James answered.

 

“Will you support my relationship with Lena and not interfere?”

 

“Yes.” James answered this time.

 

Kara nodded and looked at Lena, she was doing the same nod. Everyone else at the table were wondering what they were silently talking about, but J’onn had a good idea. He had been catching glances of James mind when he answered those questions.

 

“In that case James, please get out and NEVER contact me or Lena again!” Kara was now clearly angry. Other people at the table were completely surprised. They had never seen Kara so cold and angry before.

 

“Wait, what? What was wrong with those answers.” James asked surprised.

 

“Really? You’re going with that? Okay. First. You were lying through your teeth. I have super hearing and super eyes remember? I could see and hear all the tell-tale signs of lying when you answered both questions. Second is that Lena can also recognize those things. Comes in quite easy when she needs to negotiate. Third reason is that Eve, your former assistant, talks with friends of her at CatCo and they tell her that you still are going around spreading rumors about Lena. And the fourth reason is that last week after I send the text you mumbled, and I quote ‘I knew she couldn’t stay away. Maybe now we can talk some sense into her’. Any response to that?” Kara was on a roll now, everyone could see and sense that. Only an idiot would step in front of this train.

 

“You are right, I indeed lied. And I would again. A Super and a Luthor don’t belong together.” James was now furious and missed the gasps of everyone at his side of the table. He stood up and bend over the table, his knuckles white of grabbing the table edge. “I can’t believe you are dating a freaking Luthor of all people. If it was just for a night of fun, fine. That was my intention as well when I asked her on a date. Nobody should date a Luthor. Just wait. She will betray you at some point and then I will have the last laugh. And just wait till Superman hears about this.”

 

Kara stood up smoothly and looked like she was in perfect control. It was almost like she was playing with her food. She answered James with a very light tone, that gave Alex and Winn goosebumps. “Oh, you are going to call Clark? Tell him ‘hello’ from me. It’s been almost two weeks since he and Lois were here for dinner after all. He even hugged Lena goodbye and she and Lois exchanged contact information. They even went for drinks two nights later. Let’s see how your well thought out reasoning will go with them.”

 

James had become silent now. Nobody was helping him like he had expected. Before he could say more Kara continued. “But if you want a night of fun. Maybe you can ask that reporter at CatCo that seems to be flying through the ranks. What was her name again? Oh yeah, Megan Michaels. She seems willing to help you? After all, last time she did she went from junior reporter to senior reporter after two weeks at CatCo. Or maybe Daisy Stein? Or Jennifer Castra? You remember? Those interns at accounting and legal? Or maybe call your new assistant. Layla sounds like a lovely girl. After all, she ‘worked’ late her first day.”

 

James was now swallowing hard, but again Kara continued. “You know, I do have to thank you. While I liked being a reporter, I didn’t love it. You asking Snapper to ‘ground’ me and only let me do peer reviews and little fluff pieces made my decision to quit a lot easier. And probably for other reporters as well. They really don’t seem to like being forced to write ‘positive’ about The Guardian and having their articles edited by you if they don’t do that.”

 

Kara moved around the table and was still fully in control, but her eyes radiated white fury. “James, you have a choice. Either leave now on your own or have me fly you out of that balcony and drop you off at a location of my choosing. I don’t care either way. But let me make one thing clear. Never speak or contact me or Lena again except for professional reasons. Choose now.”

 

As soon as Kara was done speaking James stood up and walked out of the door. Kara slowly walked back to Lena and gave her a quick kiss before sitting down. Both their ears were trained on James and making sure he was indeed leaving the building, which he did a minute later.

 

Kara smiled a bit sheepish at the people opposite of her. “Sorry, but that needed to be done. He was walking a very thin rope before coming here and based on his history those two questions were enough to see if this was useful or not. Turns out, it was not.” Kara plants another quick kiss on Lena’s her lips as that burden is finally gone. “But to let all of you know as well. Lena is here to stay. If you don’t accept that then the door is right there.” Kara points directly to the front door to which everyone also looks.

 

“I know I haven’t been the most positive on Lena, but I want to change that. I also should apologize to you both for that.” Alex said. “I let the name and James influence me too much. You made a good point in your letter with shunning Lucy, Winn, you and me. But what I just saw and heard from James I hadn’t known. I never knew him to be like that.”

 

“I’ll accept your apology.” Lena answered gracefully. “I hope we all can become friends as well. From what Kara told me she suspected we could actually get along really well. Apparently my interests overlap those of you Alex, and those of Winn very much.”

 

“I hope to find out” Alex told her, to which Winn added. “Me too. I need someone I can talk science with without having to dumb it down.” He quickly winked at Lena when he said that to which she responded with a smile.

 

“Before we continue I want to make one thing clear. Everything were are going to share from this point on I expect not to be shared with anyone. Is that okay for you?” Kara looks at Alex, Maggie, J’onn and Winn and they nod as they agree with her. “Okay, so the first thing. Do you have any questions for me or Lena? I asked already my question so it’s only fair you can ask as well.”

 

“Where did you two go on vacation? I never found a mention on either of you on social media.” Winn wanted to know.

 

Kara and Lena looked at each other and Kara nodded, causing Lena to answer. “We were where you expected us to be. We were allowed to use a private tropical island, owned by the Arrow, one of the hero’s on Earth 1. We were there for five weeks before returning. Then we visited Eliza for a few days and Kara gave her retirement letter to Lois. From there we went on another five week vacation, but this time on this earth.”

 

“Are you staying now? Lucy told us you were thinking about moving to earth 1” Alex asked.

 

“We are.” Kara answered. “We have talked about it and we want to stay on this earth. Earth 1 is still a possibility, but only as a last resort.”

 

“There is one thing I really like to know.” J’onn added. “When you came to the DEO you had a new suit. Was that the reason you could take Cadmus down so easily? Last time you solar flared taking a group of them down.”

 

“No. Well, at least not completely. I have been doubting how much to tell, but I’ll tell you the highlights. A few scientists on earth 1 made devices that neutralize all kryptonite within 2 meters of me and if I use the device as a weapon I can neutralize all kryptonite within 100 meters.” Kara didn’t tell the exact value’s in case it got into the wrong hands.” It neutralizes bullets, rocks, energy weapons, everything. I will still get hit, but the kryptonite parts of it are gone. So they didn’t really have anything against me when I showed up. As for the suit, I asked the main suit designer of earth 1 hero’s to make me a new one. I wanted to look more mature and get rid of the skirt. Oh, and I have to apologize to you J’onn. The Flash helped me collect Kryptonite samples for them to study and he stole some of the Red K from the DEO vault. And in case someone ever asks, Clark also has the device so he is free from kryptonite as well.”

 

“Thank you for explaining that. We hadn’t noticed there was Red K missing so a complete check is needed I think. It should have been detected. And as to the suit, it looks good on you. Like a real Superwoman.” J’onn winked at her at the mention of her new name and Kara smiled a bit.

 

“What I want to add though,” Kara started with. “is that it took the scientists on the other earth just more than a month to find and develop multiple Kryptonite solutions, while working on it part time. I’m still a bit sour that that didn’t happen at the DEO as well. More and more opponents had Kryptonite weapons and I got no extra protection from it. You know it weakens me, even from a distance, so I am wondering why nobody was working on it?”

 

“We were forbidden to work on that. We proposed it several times to the oversight committee, but they refused it every time. And seeing most of them have been arrested now, you know why they refused.” Alex answered. She had wanted to work on it, but was called back every time.

 

“Thank you. That clears that up at least.” Kara said. “I have two more things to tell you though. The first one is that I have been visiting the Fortress for several weeks now. Clark always said there were a few statues and a computer there, but there is so much more. I went there and since I know Kryptonian technology I easily spotted everything else that was there. Let’s just say, I am glad I liked learning on Krypton and was studying to join the science guild. For the first time since Krypton I’m using that knowledge now. My father and uncle left a lot behind for me. The Fortress wasn’t just for Clark, but also for me and if Clark knew Kryptonese he had known that.” Kara smiled again when she spoke about the science guild and now using that knowledge. Everyone could see a spark in her eyes that had almost never been there.

 

It wasn’t long before Kara’s smile falters a bit as she approached the subject she was getting to. “My father knew I would have powers on earth. One of my powers is hardly speak about and I know Alex already know which one I mean.”

 

“You aging” Alex answered softly.

 

“Yes.” Kara said softly. “My father knew about that and calculated it on Krypton. According to him I will be able to reach five thousand years easily.”

 

At that number the jaw of four people fell on the floor. Three of them were trying to comprehend that number while one had a tear in his eyes and looked at her softly.

 

“I’m sorry Kara.” J’onn told her, knowing how this feels. “I know what a burden it is to live longer than humans. I have been on earth almost 300 years now and lost many friends in that time. It will be tough, but I’m sure you will get through it.”

 

“I know I will, because my father made sure I would.”

 

“What do you mean Kara? You haven’t done anything to yourself right?” Alex asked hesitantly. She didn’t want to know the answer if she did.

 

“No. My father anticipated I would most likely find a human mate and that I would outlive them by millennia. So he made me something to help with this.”

 

“What did he do? Alex asked again.

 

Kara turned a bit and looked towards her fiancée with a smile. “Lena, if you do the honors.”

 

Everyone watched as Lena slowly stood up and filled a glass with water and sat it in the middle of the table. “Watch the glass.” She told everyone and all turned to watch it. They saw two read beams heating up the glass and they looked at Kara in surprise. Except Kara sat there looking smug and wasn’t doing anything. They looked to Lena and what she saw caused Alex to stand up so quickly the chair fell over.

 

“Lena?” she asked startled. “How are you hovering there and heating the water?”

 

“You can thank Kara’s father for that one. He allowed me to do this.”

 

“Kara, what is she talking about?” Alex huffed. She didn’t like being blindsided and this she had not seen coming.

 

“Well, during the last few months on Krypton my father was always working. What I found out recently is that he and Jor-El were working together making sure we would thrive and live a happy life. So when he found out about the aging, he worked on a way to turn a human into a Kryptonian. Which he managed to finish and place it inside the fortress when he and Jor-El build it on Krypton.”

 

“I found out about this during my first visit to the Fortress. After that I spend some days studying the technology, which by Kryptonian standards wasn’t really advanced and most of it I learned in kindergarten already. It was mostly different software in order to adapt It to humans instead of animals. That’s what we used it for on Krypton. So one weekend I took Lena and Eliza there and we studied it some more. Everything checked out, tests and simulations were successful so Lena decided to do it. She went in and five hours later she was Kryptonian.”

 

“So you are fully Kryptonian now Lena?” J’onn asked.

 

“Yes. I have the same powers as Kara has. The only difference I control them better. I didn’t even need 24 hours and I mastered them all. I guess there was one good thing to being a Luthor after all. They really nailed down the ‘in control’ part when I was young.” Lena smiled, but Kara could see she was uncertain and afraid for their reactions. She quickly tries to make her more comfortable.

 

“Don’t let her fool you. She control’s all except flight. As soon as she hits 10 feet she falls out of the sky. Even a Luthor upbringing can’t overpower being afraid of heights.” Kara added with a wink and saw Lena relax a bit.

 

“Okay. So Lena is now a Kryptonian. Can’t say I expected that when I came here tonight. I can understand now why you don’t want anyone to talk about what we are discussing tonight.” Alex said with a bit of sarcasm, but it was mend goodheartedly. “Any more news? Neither one of you is pregnant are you?” Alex said it jokingly, but after the last revelation a bit of uncertainty came through.

 

“Rao no. That is way too soon. But there is one more, kind of big thing.” At that moment Kara and Lena turned to one other and super speeded out the room and within two seconds were back sitting back at the table like nothing had happened.

 

Nobody said anything as Kara and Lena sat there doing nothing. It wasn’t until Maggie started slapping Alex on her upper arm and pointed to Kara and Lena’s ring fingers that they noticed what was going on. Alex, J’onn and Winn all gasped and suddenly Alex burst out in tears. Heavily sobbing she quickly made her way to the bathroom, shaking her head to Maggie telling her not to follow.

 

After Alex left Winn, J’onn and Maggie stood up and  congratulated the couple with small hugs. A handshake felt a little bit to impersonal while a large hug was too much for the stage of their mending relationships. After they had told when and who proposed and promising to show the video in the future, Kara quietly excused herself and went to the bathroom Alex was currently in. She softly knocked and announced herself before being told she could come in.

 

“Alex, everything okay?” Kara gently asked, but seeing her sisters sitting on the edge of the tub with an red face and hearing her sobbing she already knows the answer.

 

“Yes, no. I don’t know.” Alex answered, sounding sad and like she really didn’t know. “Seeing you like this has hit me harder than I expected. You are confident, sharp, you speak your mind and you look so incredibly happy. Then seeing the engagement ring suddenly made me realize how much I have missed. In my mind you still are the shy, meek and unsure Kara Danvers, but what I am seeing tonight is the confident Kara Zor-El. This isn’t a side of you I have ever seen before. You have grown so much and I missed it all. When you were a couple of years with us, we used to talk about how we hoped there was someone out there for us to spend our life’s with. Who would accept you for who you are. And now you found her and I didn’t even know. I missed the chance to see you go on your first date. I missed the chance to hear you gush about Lena. I missed the chance to help you move in with her. I missed your engagement and you telling me about it straight after. I missed everything of something you thought you would never find. And I don’t know how to handle that right now. I’m so, so sorry for everything that has happened and that I wasn’t there for you. For how I treated you. I will never forgive myself for missing all these moments. Those moments are supposed to be special and we used to share everything, but I screwed that up and missed all of it.”

 

Kara squats down until she is at Alex her height and gently takes Alex her hands in her own. “I know. And it hurts, and sometimes it still hurts me that you missed that. I wanted to talk to you so badly. I wanted to gush about Lena, to talk to you about our dates. At those moments I was really angry with all of you, but you in particular. I missed my sister. The person I would come to for advice. The person that would always be there for me. The thing is though, at some point the pain will lessen. It will take some time, but it will lessen. The pain and hurt I felt from being abandoned has lessened the months after me leaving. It is still there lingering in the back of my head, but that is because I have no new memories of all of you. That is why I won’t go back to how everything was. We all need to reconnect again and work back the trust and work through the pain. I would like to forgive all of you for everything, but I can’t do that. I owe it to myself and to Lena to make sure the foundation is secure. It hurt me too much to just jump back in and forget about everything that has happened. So while you have missed those moments, I hope you will be there for the next ones and that you will have indeed worked through your problems, together with the therapist. I really hope she helped you change. It’s one thing to say it, but something completely different to actually do it.”

 

Alex looks her sister in the eyes and still sees the hurt in there, but also something she hopes is a glimmer of hope. “She really helped me change. I haven’t even taken any of the new trainees out for a ‘friendly’ sparring session in the last two months.” Alex finally smiled a little again. “I hope to be able to be there for you in the future and that we will reconnect again. I know it must seem strange to you knowing how I have treated you, but I have really missed you.”

 

“I know. I can tell you are telling me the truth. Maybe we can do coffee next week? I’d like to hear what you have been doing recently.”

 

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Alex softly smiled again towards her sister and she was really hoping things would work out. There was a long road ahead, but getting coffee will be a good start. 

 

Kara walked out of the bathroom and went back to Lena, who was talking with Winn about a recent discovery in quantum computing. Kara smiled at hearing them talk animated about this. While she knew the theory was sound, she also knew it was a lot of steps behind on what she had learned. It was a few minutes before Alex came back from the bathroom. She had freshened herself up and the only sign she had been crying was her red eyes.

 

Alex and Winn had taken their seats, so they could sit closer with Lena and they were now discussing recent biomedical breakthroughs. Kara spend some time talking with J’onn and Maggie, talking about day to day things. Soon J’onn had to leave for a meeting with the White House, leaving Kara and Maggie to talk. Maggie confided in Kara that she was glad she decided to give Alex another chance. She had been a mess the first week after they had learned Kara had left and that having a chance to be better means the world to her.

 

Soon the conversations had run their course and all felt the night had come to an natural end. Everyone needed to regroup and process the emotions of the night. Before everyone left, Kara gave them her new cellphone number so they could reach her. It was an olive branch and they took it. After shaking hands and saying goodbye the penthouse was empty, except for the couple that lived there.

 

De-stressing on the couch, watching a few episodes of Park and Recreation, Kara and Lena were sitting together comfortably and drinking some wine. Not that it had any effect, they just liked the taste of it. Especially the more expensive ones from the Bordeaux region in France. They were snacking on a large bag of salty snacks and a large plate of pizza  snacks, while looking back at the night. It had been emotional, but long needed and in the end there had been progress made. Kara was happy that she had talked to all of them and Lena already felt a connection building with Winn and even a bit with Alex.

 

Talking about James they had the same thoughts. Neither was surprised about his behavior and had kind of expected it. If Kara was honest, she didn’t mind he would be out of her life. Thinking back about his actions ever since she knew him it seemed controlling. He was always right and everyone should do what he says, according to him. While it might make certain gatherings awkward, neither wanted him around after what he had said.

 

After watching a couple of episodes, both were trying to hide their yawns, but failing miserably. It wasn’t long before they called it for the night and soon turned in.


	21. Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

It was the first Tuesday after the talk and Kara was on her way for her four o clock appointment at the DEO with J’onn. She had spent the morning and afternoon flying from hospital to hospital visiting the pediatric departments, like she used to do. She always found that even though it was difficult to see so many sick children, the smile they got from her visit was worth it.

 

Flying through the blue and sunny sky she made a small pit stop, in costume, at an ice cream truck and got herself a double helping of the ‘Superwoman Special’. An bowl with six scoops of blue blueberry ice cream, four scoops of red strawberry and chocolate sprinkles with her coat of arms on them. Smiling at the surprised customers, who never expected to see Superwoman sit under a tree eating a large ice cream, she sat there savoring and slowly eating the ice cream while refreezing it every couple of minutes. She was a bit on the early side and needed to pass some time before the meeting.

 

She was still slowly eating while at the same time posing for a few pictures with little kids that had also just gotten ice cream. Looking at her watch she noticed an half hour had passed and it was nearly four o’clock. She speed ate through the remaining ice cream and got a smile and a smirk from the cart owner who had been watching her eating his special.

 

“Thank you sir. It was delicious. I’ll be back for more one of these days.” Superwoman said to the owner.

 

“Your welcome. Good luck with the rest of your day Superwoman.” The owner said with a smile from ear to ear. He had already seen that photos of his truck and Superwoman eating his special were going around on twitter. That was some good publicity for his small cart.

 

“Thank you. Goodbye.” Superwoman slowly took off and waved at the man as she left. She quickly rose higher until she was out of view and went to the DEO city base.  

 

Kara landed at the DEO air entrance and made her way to the meeting room, where J’onn would be. He wasn’t there yet, so she sat down and got her phone out and quickly send a few texts to Lena with pictures of her day. Lena had very boring meetings that day and Kara knew Lena would get a kick out the ice cream. She was already picturing Lena with a soft smile when J’onn entered the room. He closed to door and enabled several security measures against eavesdropping.

 

“Hey Kara, do you want anything to drink?” J’onn asked a bit awkwardly. He had no idea how to proceed right now. There were still so many things to resolve and he had no idea at what stage of closeness they were now.          

 

“No, thank you J’onn.” Kara answered with a smile before turning more serious. “Today I actually wanted to talk business if that is okay?” J’onn nodded approvingly and suggested her to continue. “I explained a bit about what I wanted to do in the video you all saw, but I wanted to clarify a few things and set up some boundaries. However, first I’d like to know something. From what I have heard on the news there have been no alien attacks the past weeks, I’m guessing the reporters were right that most attacks had been coming from Cadmus?”

 

“Yes. Your right. From the servers, the video’s and report we have found that Cadmus has been using this tactic even before you put on the cape. They only intensified it when Lillian became head. Nearly all attacks were orchestrated or planned by Cadmus. Off course there is still normal alien crime like smuggling and theft, but no real violent crime like in the past.”

 

“Okay, I’m glad about that.” Kara responded smiling. “And how is the Cadmus thing going anyway? The news about it has slowed down.”

 

“It’s going good.” J’onn said with a smile. ”A lot of people have taken plea deals and most of them will serve the remaining of their life in jail. As it turned out, a lot of them thought they could buy their way out of trouble and hadn’t expected the entire network being taken down. And I must say Kara, I’m proud of you for taking them down. I understand why you went outside the normal paths. Without you doing this we would never have brought them down. We had no idea they were this widespread.”

 

“Thank you J’onn. And how are Cyborg Superman, Lex and Lillian?”

 

“Cyborg Superman you have disabled completely. All his cybernetics are fried. His laser eye is disabled and he has only his normal strength left. Lex is in solitary and will remain there for some time. He will be shipped to different federal prisons every few weeks for now until a permanent solution can be found. The same goes for Lillian. She is locked up at a different federal prison and is also in solitary. She is extremely agitated and still can’t believe Cadmus is gone. She has tried to bribe her guards, but all of them just laughed in her face. She has no power anymore.”

 

“That’s good. Thank you for telling me. Lena will be happy about this. Even if she is Kryptonian now, she is still afraid of Lex and Lillian.” Kara said truthfully. She knew Lena was still a bit scared since there was not much news about the two of them and what had happened after Cadmus had fallen. Kara smiled at J’onn and made sure he could see she now turned serious. “But now the main reason I came here. I wanted to set up some boundaries.”

 

Kara moved a bit forward and interlocked her fingers on top of the table. “First I’d like to give you this card.” Kara gives J’onn a paper card and he looks at it. “Those are two phone numbers. The top one goes to my separate Superwoman phone. When you need Superwoman, call me on that number. The bottom one is to a phone Lena has. If I ever get injured or something, I want you to immediately contact her. She will know what to do and will come to help or call Superman.”

 

“Okay. I will make sure to keep these numbers secure and private. Can Alex have these as well?” J’onn asked.

 

Kara thought it over for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, she can have them to.” For a few seconds there is a silence, but she quickly continued. “I want to tell you that I don’t expect to be called a lot on that number. With the amount of attacks decreased and the Alien Immigration Office starting soon I expect it will drop even more. I want to make clear that I will only come in to help as a last resort. If the DEO can’t handle the situation you can call me and I’ll try to help. I can’t promise anything since I might be somewhere else, but I’ll try to be there.”

 

J’onn nodded. “Okay, I understand that.”

 

“Also, you can get rid of the Kryptonite training room. Kryptonite doesn’t affect me anymore. I’m sure you can use that space for other things.”

 

“You don’t want to train anymore of feel powerless if needed? Or if something happens. How can we treat you?” J’onn asked.

 

“No. I have other ways to train and be powerless if needed. I’m not going to explain them because I don’t want that information out. But again, if something happens, let Lena know. She will know what to do and can assist.”

 

“Okay.” J’onn looked at Kara and was wondering what she had up her sleeve. He could understand why she didn’t want to share, but he was curious. To save the progress they made he wasn’t going to ask though. “You have any more things you want to discuss?”

 

“Not really. Only that what you probably already could have guessed and that is that I won’t be much around here anymore. Having more free time and living the life I wanted is the reason I took a step back. Hanging around here at the DEO always took a lot of time. I am so incredibly happy and free now that I don’t have to work all the time. It feels like Fort Rozz has been lifted of my shoulders.” Kara winked at J’onn at the mention of the prison ship and he grinned back at her.

 

“No problem. I had already guessed it.” J’onn said with no malice in his voice. He was happy for her. “When we do need your help, do you still want a reimbursement for food costs?”

 

“Yes and no. I don’t need it anymore, but maybe at some point another alien or person wants to help you with certain threats. So I thought maybe the DEO could make some kind of ‘subcontractor’ contract and when someone is used, there is a normal reimbursement. I will probably donate it to charity, but there are plenty of other people who might need the money after helping.” Kara answered J’onn question. She doesn’t really need the money anymore now that she has gone out and found a few precious stones and some gold. Her savings were filled up again.

 

“That is an good idea.” J’onn thought it over for a moment. It wasn’t as different as a normal subcontractor and they could run in through the FBI to shield the DEO from the public. The president would need to sign off on it, but he didn’t expect it to be a too big of an problem.

 

“I don’t really have any more question. Do you have more? J’onn asked Kara.

 

“Not that I can think of right now.” Kara answered. “Thank you for doing what I was asking for. I know it will change things a lot, but we never did have a real talk about boundaries and it nearly burned me out.”

 

“I know. And that is on me. You were green in the superhero business and still young. I’m several centuries old so I should have known better. But I have to say, you have become a real professional. You are calm, speak your mind and you act a lot more mature. You have grown up a lot in the past months.” J’onn looked at Kara again and saw her smile. She really had grown into a confident woman.

 

“Thank you J’onn.” Kara looked at her watch and saw the time. She quickly stood up. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I have a date tonight with Lena at the concert hall. They are playing classical Lord of The Rings music and we are both big fans of the movies. I will contact you soon and maybe we can go for coffee or fly somewhere.”

 

J’onn hot up as well. “I’d love that. Hope to hear from you soon and have fun tonight.”

 

“Thank you. You to.” Kara gave J’onn a handshake and smiled softly at him as she walked out. She made her way to the balcony and flew off. She had a date to prepare for.

 

 

It was Thursday morning and Kara was sitting on the couch reading the latest study books on earth’s  science. She was reading as many books as possible to get caught up to where earth was technology wise. She had her Kryptonian knowledge, but in order to create a bridge to human technology she needed to learn where earth stood. Lena was doing the opposite, but more slowly. She was still learning Kryptonese and was now starting with children books that Kara had used on Krypton.

Her mind drifted off for a moment back to Tuesday night. Kara had surprised Lena with tickets to the National City Concert Hall. It had been beautiful and they had enjoyed every minute of it. The surprise guest appearance from Annie Lennox, who sang her song ‘Into the West’ still haunted them. She sang with so much passion and feeling, that they both had teared up. After the concert they went for a bite to eat at a 24/7 breakfast diner, while still being dressed in their concert clothing. After devouring two large stack of pancakes and having done a romantic walk on the beach they went home, where Lena promptly thanked Kara for several hours causing her to be a whimpering and tired, but very happy mess.

 

Kara returned from her little daydream with a smile and looked at her watch. Alex was coming to her home for lunch and she needed to go out to get some things to eat. Seeing it was nearing noon she quickly went out and got her large order sandwiches, coffee and pastries from Noonan’s.

 

It was a few minutes before twelve that Kara landed on the balcony of the penthouse and deposited the lunch on the kitchen counter. She hadn’t even changed before the doorbell rang. Quickly looking through the door she saw a nervous looking Alex standing there and waiting for her. Yelling to her sister to wait a minute she quickly put her hair into a ponytail and changed into a pair of black slacks and a yellow button up.

 

Kara opened the door and a relieved looking Alex walked in. It was still way too early to hug so Kara gave a hand and invited Alex to the kitchen counter, where their food was waiting for them.

 

“So, how have you been Alex? We mostly talked about me last time, but what have you been doing?”

 

Kara took several bites of her sandwich as Alex spoke.

 

“Well, I have been going to a therapist twice a week like I told you.” Kara nodded at this. “And I have also been going to weekly AA meetings. It has been helping a lot. Still haven’t touched a drink since I started.”

 

“I’m proud of you for doing that.” Kara said sincerely and gave an encouraging smile.

 

“Thank you, Kara. It was hard the first few weeks, but it has helped so much. I sleep better now, don’t have a headache waking up and have more free time. I actually have two new hobby’s now.” Alex said and she gave her sister a soft smile.

 

“Please, tell.”

 

“Well, Maggie and I have been driving our bikes more often. We actually both took a week off when you were away and drove up and down the coast. The other thing is I have picked up photography again. Taking pictures of the bike trips and scenery’s we come across. Maybe I can show you some time?” Alex asked hesitantly. She knows she I walking on thin ice and is desperately trying not to say the wrong thing.  

 

“Sure. After all, I have something to show you as well.”

 

“What do you have to show me?”

 

“Well, when we were on the island Lena recorded the proposal. When we were back here she made a video from it. Eliza has a copy actually.” Kara answered gently.

 

“I would love to see that. Thank you.” Alex was grateful she at least will see the proposal, but it still hurts that Kara couldn’t have come to her after it had happened. “What have you been doing now that you don’t work at CatCo anymore?”

 

Kara took her third sandwich from the bag and took a large bite. She wanted to gather her thoughts for a moment and to get rid of the hunger before talking. “Well, like I said last Friday. I liked being a reporter, but didn’t love it. I could be a reporter if I wanted and could be good at it, but it wouldn’t make me happy. It wouldn’t fulfill me.” Kara looked softly at Alex before continuing. “Do you remember what I was going to be on Krypton?”

 

“Yes. A scientist in the Science Guild.” Alex answered.

 

“Indeed. I completely ignored science after I arrived on earth. It was too painful and hurt too much to think about. It always brought back memories from Krypton and I couldn’t deal with them back then. I just bottled it up and pushed it down. But I have been slowly dealing with it lately and a large part of that was because I visited the fortress. What I found there blew my mind and I have to thank my father and uncle for what they have done. By looking and studying what they left behind I have slowly been making peace with the loss of my planet and people. But what stuck out most is that when I was studying the tech they gave me and Kal, I felt at home. I felt at peace. It felt like a light that extinguished after I left Krypton had been ignited again. Both Eliza an Lena have seen a light in my eyes when I talked about Kryptonian science and technology that they have never seen when I was a reporter. And I feel the same way.”

 

Kara takes a few breaths to gather some more of her thoughts. “For the last few weeks I have been studying the latest earth science and technology, while Lena has been learning Kryptonian so she can learn about Krypton’s technology. My plan is to build and recreate some of Krypton’s technology. I need to know earth’s science for that to find equivalent materials and to not make it look suspiciously advanced.”

 

Alex has her mouth open, not expecting to hear this coming from her sister. “So you are going to become a scientist? What will you be working on?”

 

Kara nods. “Yes. And for now I’m going to work on some of Krypton’s old terraforming technology. It’s from several centuries ago, but still incredibly advanced by earth standards. We want to recreate air scrubbers, water filtration and forestation technology. The air scrubbers remove unwanted items from the air and exhaust clean breathable air. The water filtration can remove almost all materials from water and make it drinkable. Lead, toxins, salt can all be removed safely and efficiently. Then there is the forestation technology. It can be used to grow entire forests from seeds to fully grown trees within a year. It will provide just about unlimited building materials.”

 

Alex looks completely flabbergasted and is trying to find words to use. She knows how much that technology could be worth. It would quickly solve a lot of problems. Global warming, diminishing water supplies, drought and deforestation would be gone. This was groundbreaking technology. “How do you know all this? You can’t have all the plans for this in your head? Or have you? And where will you be working from?”

 

“My father and uncle left some surprises for me in the Fortress. That included plans to technology like this. I found it when I was there and I immediately knew the implications of this technology. I talked a lot with Lena and Eliza about this and what to do with it, but technology like this is needed to much to not pursue it. The one thing we all agreed on quickly was that it needed to be dumbed down to earth standards.”

 

“I agree.” Alex said, still a bit in awe. “I am so glad that you found something you like to do. Do you have more plans or things you want to develop? And where will you work?”

 

“Well, it’s a bit technical. Under the umbrella of L-Corp, Lena will start a new company which will be her private lab. We can use materials and funding from L-Corp, but nobody will have access to the building. As of right now construction is already underway to upgrade an old lab, just outside of the city to the latest specs, security and machine’s. It will be an state of the art lab for the both of us to use. On paper I will be an employee of her at that lab, but in reality I will actually work there almost full time and Lena will work there when she can or wants. She has hired a COO who has taken over a lot of her work and now she has a lot more reasonable work hours and even afternoons where she can tinker on her ideas.”

 

“Oh, and I do have more idea’s, but those will for now be fully Kryptonian technology and not for public usage. Just for me an Lena. Let’s call it my ‘pet’ project.” Kara said with a wink. She knew what it would be, but didn’t explain more.

 

Alex is trying to find words to describe what she is hearing. It looks like they have it all planned out and that the future will be exciting. “Thank you Kara for telling me this. It looks like you will have a lot to do from now on.”

 

“Actually, not really.” Kara answered. “Now that I don’t fly around that much anymore I have a lot more time. If I’m needed, I can fly away without notice and one thing Lena and I discussed is that we only work here during normal office hours. We both chose to reduce our responsibility’s so we would have more free time and time to spend with each other. We don’t want to fill that with constantly working in a lab.”

 

“Okay. I understand that. I’m actually proud of you for doing that. Not falling in the same trap as when you became Supergirl and working all the time.” Alex said sincerely.

 

There was some more silence as they ate from the last of the food and soon Alex her phone alarm went off. She was needed back at the DEO for a meeting.

 

“I’m sorry Kara, but I have to go. I’ve got a meeting in thirty minutes. Can we meet again soon? Maybe for coffee or a another lunch or perhaps dinner?”

 

“Sure. I think we can do that.” Kara responded. Both Kara and Alex got up from their chairs and Kara gave Alex a small hug, instead of a handshake, and she could feel a bit of tension leave Alex her shoulders. After saying goodbye and letting Alex out, Kara cleaned the kitchen and went back to studying.

 

 

The next morning Kara went out to get breakfast with Winn. She had decided to finish what she started and met with everyone that week. While she was going out, Lena was already at L-Corp. Today she had a meeting with the representatives of the company that have been researching CatCo Magazine and they were going to deliver their final report that morning.

 

As it turned out the preliminary report was already antiquated again. CatCo magazine’s readership had been in freefall. Since James had become head of the magazine, they had lost 15% of the subscriptions, 20% web traffic and people were still being poached away at a high rate. On top of that HR had received several complaints about James in the past three weeks.

 

Lena immediately notified Eve to get the shadow CEO in after lunch and James at 2pm that same afternoon.

 

After meeting with the representatives Lena went to Legal and HR to discuss the report and what actions could be taken. She ran a business that valued the employees and they should feel protected. That was clearly not the case anymore at CatCo magazine.

 

It was 2pm and the meeting with Beatrice Buster had just finished. Eve let James in the office and he sat down on one of the chairs in front on Lena’s desk.

 

Lena sat behind her desk. She was calm, steady and in her element. She shouldn’t, but she was going to enjoy this.

 

“Mr. Olsen. Do you know why I called for you to meet me?”

 

“No idea, Miss Luthor.” James sneered. “You called to meet me, I didn’t.”

 

“Okay then Mr. Olsen. If you want to do it that way, fine by me. See this report?” Lena holds up the 300 page report about CatCo magazine.. “This is an report about the situation at CatCo Magazine. Do you know what is in it?”

 

“Probably that sales and web traffic are down. I already knew that. But that is no surprise. Nobody trusts news provided by a Luthor.”

 

Lena lifts up one of her eyebrows in fake surprise. She had expected this and went in for the kill. “Really Mr. Olsen. That is not what the market research shows, which is extremely detailed by the way. But to get back to the main point and to summarize. CatCo Magazine is run without any leadership. There is no direction where the magazine is going, talent is being poached left and right, serious journalism is at an all-time low, reporters and editors don’t trust you because you edit articles to make them more positive and too top it off there have been several complaints about you to HR. Any comments on that?”

 

James swallowed harshly. He didn’t have any response to this. Angrily he tried to defend himself “I have done nothing that warrants complaints to HR. And the other things always happen. It’s just a cycle. But this is just a witch hunt. You are only doing this because of payback because I don’t support your relationship with Kara.”

 

“Actually Mr. Olsen, this report was made by an agency hired by my CFO while I was on vacation on the other side of the planet. That was several weeks ago already. As to this being a cycle is also false. This report provides data and numbers to prove that. And the complaints to HR have been proven true and there is enough evidence of that.”

 

James swallowed again. His fists were now clenching, his knuckles were turning white and there was fury in his eyes. “What do you want then?” He spit to Lena. “My resignation? You can forget about that. You will have to fire me and I will hit you with an lawsuit straight after that for wrongful termination.”

 

“Okay then. Mr. Olsen, you employment at CatCo has been terminated for cause effective immediately. Security will sort out your office and mail you your belongings. As of right now your access to CatCo has been revoked. You will not receive a severance package since you are fired for cause. You are of course free to file a lawsuit, but what is in the report and in the HR files will be evidence enough for a termination for cause. Whatever you decide, I wish you good luck in your future endeavors. And please leave your CatCo provided phone with my assistant outside. Goodbye Mr. Olsen.”

 

Lena looked James straight in the eye waiting for his move. She could see he was seriously angry and she was happy that she had placed security outside in anticipation. He might not be able to hurt her now that she is Kryptonian, but he didn’t know that she was. To be sure she had been wearing her red sun bracelet to make sure her secret wouldn’t be exposed if he attacked.

 

James was furious. He knew what most likely would be in that HR report and that alone would provide cause. He didn’t have a leg to stand on. He angrily stood up and In doing so threw over his chair. He walked toward the exit and passed the bar next to the door. His anger got the best of him and he grabbed a whiskey glass of the bar and threw it angrily at the ground.

 

Lena saw the move James made and didn’t even flinch when the glass shattered on the ground. “Thank you Mr. Olsen, but I believe I didn’t ask you to destroy my property.” Lena pressed the intercom an called her assistant Eve to let security in. The door opened and two men, that were in fact ex-navy seals, walked in and grabbed James by his arms.

 

“Please make sure that Mr. Olsen leaves behind his CatCo cell phone and access card at Eve’s desk and escort Mr. Olsen of the premises please.” She said to the men.

 

The security men nodded, ushered James out of the office and helped him retrieve the items before escorting him out of building. “Eve, please call security at CatCo and make sure they know Mr. Olsen in not allowed to enter the building. Also let them retrieve Mr. Olsen’s personal items and ship them to his address. And make sure that a temporary security pass for Ms. B. Buster, the new CatCo magazine CEO is ready. She should arrive there within the hour.”

 

“Okay Ms. Luthor. Anything else?” Eve asked.

 

“Please get a cleaning crew up here. Mr. Olsen threw a glass on the floor so there is glass everywhere.”

 

“Will do that, they will be here shortly.”

 

“Thank you Eve. And since it is Friday afternoon you can leave after doing these last few things. I have nothing else planned anyway.”

 

“Thank you Ms. Luthor.”

 

Lena relaxed in her chair and removed her red sun bracelet. She felt her powers immediately returning and sat back looking out of the window. After a few minutes she decided to give her fiancée a heads up.

 

Me:                       Kar, quick warning, I just terminated James from CatCo magazine. The final report came out today and it wasn’t pretty. Be warned for a seriously pissed of Mr. Olsen. He actually threw over a chair getting up and then threw one of the whiskey glasses down on the floor.

Kar-Bear:            That butthole. Are you okay?

Me:                       I am. The glass shattered several meters away. I had security escort him out of the building afterwards. I was wearing the bracelet to make sure he wouldn’t find out about my powers. Not a scratch on me.

Kar-Bear:            Smart. I’ll let the others know as well by the way. When will you be home?

Me:                       Around 5pm I think. Had a light load today and need to review a few more documents. Then I’m done for the week.

Kar-Bear:            You want to eat at home or shall we go out for dinner?

Me:                       Go out maybe? For some reason I’m craving Irish and Mexican food, so I was thinking maybe first go to Teddy’s and then have a 2nd dinner at El Toro’s? It’s two for one taco night.

Kar-Bear:            I was wrong, it is possible to love you more. Sounds great Lee. I’ll be at L-Corp at five then. Love you.

Me:                       😊. Love you to Kar. See you at five.

 

Lena stood up and gently made her way to the small bar, maneuvering around the shards of glass riddling the floor. She poured herself a large Irish whiskey and made her way back to the chair. Not that the alcohol would work, but she liked the taste and it reminded her of her origins.

 

She sat down in her chair, still turned to the large glass windows, and turned on her favorite music to drown out the silence. It wasn’t long before the soft score of Jurassic Park started playing and that she began reminiscing her life. _If only little Lena could see me now_ , she thought. _Hell, if the Lena of two years ago could see me now_ , she scoffed mentally while a soft smile appeared on her face. So much has changed, but all for the better. She found the love of her life, L-Corp is thriving, she is almost indestructible and she finally has friends and acceptance. Something she had craved since she was adopted.

 

Lena slowly took a couple more sips of her drink as she kept reminiscing. All too soon her drink was gone and it was time to finish the last tasks of the day. She couldn’t wait till it was five pm and spend the weekend with her fiancée.


	22. Mariah Carey Got Nothing On Me

The next month had gone over quickly for Kara. She had been busy working at the new lab and had begun her work on the air scrubber. Progress so far had been steady and the project was going well.  At an even more secure part of the building she had been working on her ‘pet’ project. This was almost finished and she was currently running tests and simulations. Since it was only intended to be used by her or Lena, she didn’t have to translate it to human technology and that made it much easier to make progress.

 

Thanksgiving Kara and Lena had spent at Eliza’s, together with Alex, Maggie and Winn. J’onn didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving and opted to work so more people could take the day off. Kara had flown her and Lena to Midvale and much to the humor of all, Lena could still not fly without falling out of the air after a few meters. Alex and Maggie had driven their motorbike’s up the coast and had decided to take a week vacation and drive inland after Thanksgiving. There had been a lot less alien related problems so the DEO was calm and people were using a lot of their vacation and overtime, now that they could.

 

The only incident that had happened was an ‘attack’ by an alien from the planet Sombrino. It had grown till about ten feet and went insane in the middle of National City. It had turned out his mating cycle was triggered by the smell of all the concrete in national City. As soon as he was a few miles from the city he returned to normal.

 

Thanksgiving dinner had been pleasant and everyone got along well. There were still fractures in the relationships of Kara and Lena with Alex, Maggie and Winn, but things were slowly improving. Lunches and coffee meetings were still happening and everyone had gone bowling together a week before thanksgiving. Lena had never done it before, because Lillian had found it ‘unworthy’ for a Luthor to do, but she turned out to be a natural. She won two out of the five rounds, with Alex and Maggie winning the others.

 

The weekend after thanksgiving Lois and Clark had taken two weeks off for a small ‘vacation’, where Lois underwent the conversion procedure. Kara had run the procedure again, with Lena learning and being there for moral support. It all had worked without any problems and Lois had become another Kryptonian. Before leaving the fortress, Clark had quickly given Lois his red sun bracelet so he could fly her back to the Kent farm where they could quietly spend two weeks training. Kara had gifted Lois a Kryptolize bracelet so she would also be protected, while Lena had given another red sun bracelet, together with a wink causing the two original Kryptonians to turn beet red.  

 

It was just before December as Kara and Lena sat down on a couch in their home, together with a CatCo reporter on the opposite chair and a photographer that was taking shots. Normally their home was a sacred place for them, but this time they made an exception. The holiday season was arriving and along with that came many parties, thrown by charity’s hoping to receive more donations. This wasn’t a problem, but this meant there was a good chance that there engagement would become public. To be ahead of this, they would do an interview announcing their engagement and be ahead of any rumors. This was a situation Lena thought, that it was really helpful to be the owner of an magazine. It would definitely help the magazine’s sales, which had been climbing since the new CEO had been appointed.

 

To make it an more personal interview and not be as intimidating as Lena’s office, they had quickly made the decision to do this at their home in an informal setting. Since Kara loved Christmas, the week after Thanksgiving she had already given the apartment a Christmas theme and a big tree was already decorated. The penthouse looked warm and felt like a home, making it perfect for the announcement and interview. Kara had managed to convince Lena to keep it casual, so now they sat on the couch wearing fairly ugly Christmas sweaters, jeans and warm fuzzy socks.

 

“Okay, we are ready.” The interviewer, Samantha Carter, said, nodding together with the photographer. “Are you ready Kara? And you Lena?” She asked.

 

Learning the name of the reporter when she arrived had caused both Lena and Kara to smile an chuckle at the same time. With an raised eye brow the reporter had asked, a bit prickled, about what was so funny. After explaining that they both were huge Stargate fans she got why they were laughing and it immediately broke the ice.

 

Lena looked towards Kara and she gave a small nod. “We are ready Sam.” Lena told her.

 

Sam placed the recorded on the coffee table and sat back comfortably. “So, Lena. When I got the invitation to interview you I gathered it would be at your office. But, to my surprise, we are at your home, something you have never let anyone be in before. And to my surprise I see my former colleague Kara Danvers here as well. So, may I ask why you invited me here?”

 

“Well, there is an simple answer to both your questions Sam. But first, the reason I invited you here and not in my office is that this interview isn’t about business, L-Corp or CatCo. It’s a personal matter and we thought it would be better to do this at home, rather than an impersonal office. As to the second matter,” Lena quickly took hold of one of Kara’s hands and they both softly smiled at each other. “the reason we decided to invite you here is to announce our engagement.”

 

As soon as Sam heard the last part of Lena’s sentence her jaw fell a bit and she quickly regained her composure. ”Congratulations are in order then.” She said genuinely. “I must say that it has taken me a bit by surprise. For one, I never knew both of you were dating and secondly I didn’t know you were gay.”

 

Lena smiled softly at Sam. “Thank you. I have been gay for my entire life. I just never made it public because I am a fairly private person. The only reason we do it now is because it would come out soon anyway. I know a few years ago it was released I was dating Jack Sphere, but he was just my beard. My ‘family,” Lena said with air quotes, “next to being xenophobic and racist were also extremely homophobic. I have only ever told two persons I was gay. Jack and my best friend Sam Arias. Nobody else.”

 

“And you Kara?”

 

“Well, like Lena I am a private person. I never thought I needed to tell everyone my preference. But I am not gay actually, I am pansexual. I don’t care about the gender when I am dating. I fall for someone’s personality and mind. Their gender isn’t an issue in that.” Kara smiled and made short eye contact with Lena.

 

The reporter could see the heart eyes that Lena and Kara were giving each other in even a small moment of eye contact and her lips curled up at it. “When did you start dating? You managed to keep it hidden very well.” She asked.

 

This time it was Kara that answered straight away. “Actually, soon we will be together one year. And we didn’t really try to keep it hidden. Before we started dating we were best friends and met multiple times a week for lunch, dinner and sometimes a movie night. We never really hid the fact that we were dating. People just assumed we were friends and nothing more.”

 

“And who proposed? When? Where?” Sam asked eagerly.

 

“I proposed,” Lena said with a loving smile towards her fiancée. “Kara was the one who was brave enough to ask me out for a first date and I decided I would be the one brave enough to take the next step. As to when and where we like to keep that private. What I can say that it was during our vacation and I proposed at sunset on a beach on a private island.”

 

“And it was utterly romantic.” Kara added quickly when Lena was done and the love she had for Lena could be heard in that one sentence alone.

 

“Do you have a wedding date set already?”

 

“No, we haven’t.” Kara answered. “We are not in a rush. But most likely it will be in a summer, although there is no date yet.”

 

“And if I may ask, have your lives changed much since your engagement?” Sam asked.

 

“A lot has changed.” Lena replied. She looked at her hands and the smile she had for the entire interview faltered a bit. “I used to be a workaholic. I didn’t date and after what Lex and Lillian had done I lost the already few friends I had, except for one. The only thing I had and could do was work and try to rebuild the Luthor name. I used to spent every day at the office, working and only returning to my house to sleep for a few hours. But then Kara came into my life.” Lena looked softly towards Kara again and smiled gently. “She knocked down my carefully build walls and found the real me. She used to come in with lunches and dinners since I had the habit to skip those and she even dragged me out of the office some evenings for movie nights.” Lena gave a small nod and Kara continued.

 

“For me things changed as well, but not as much as for Lena. For starters, when we started dating, I was still working at CatCo Magazine, which I currently am not. I resigned before the summer. While I am extremely thankful for the chance Miss. Grant gave me, being a reporter wasn’t my calling. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I am in the fortunate position that I could take some time off and figure what I really want to do. Which I currently am doing.” Kara didn’t tell the entire truth about this, but she didn’t want to explain her change from journalist to scientist.

 

“And on our vacation,” Lena continued,” we had a good talk about our future’s and we both decided to make sure we had enough time for ‘us’. So instead of only working and doing too much I have delegated more tasks to department heads and appointed an COO. This has taken away much of my workload and now I have most evenings free to spend with my fiancée.” Lena leaned in and gave a quick kiss on Kara’s lips.

 

“You just said that the fact you are a couple would come out soon anyways. Why is that?” Sam inquired.

 

Lena answered this question as well. “As all the media knows, December is packed with fundraisers. And this year I have someone to take with me.” Lena smiled softly.” So before rumors can start about who I have with me and before paparazzi starts to pitch tents in front of the building, we wanted to be ahead of everything and come out on our own terms. We are planning on going to several fundraisers and we don’t want to overshadow them because of rumors. Now the attention will be where it should be, the projects that host the evenings.”

 

“Do you know which ones you are going to attend?”

 

“We will be going to the GLAAD fundraiser for the first time this year. I used to donate anonymous since I wasn’t publicly out, but this year we will attend. We are also going to the fundraiser for the National City Concert and WOOF, a chain of local non-kill animal shelters. That one my fiancée chose. She used to volunteer there until a few years back.” Lena said and she smiled towards her fiancée. Kara smiled back, but soon her eyes glazed over and everyone could see she was reliving memories of working at WOOF. When Kara came back from her memories she could see everyone looking at her. She started to blush and suddenly looked so much like a puppy even the photographer chuckled from behind his lens.

 

Lena smiled at Kara’s antics and continued. “We will also attend the CHILD fundraiser. they provide play areas, computers, televisions and gaming console’s to pediatric departments in hospitals.”

 

“Okay, Wow. Those are a lot of fundraisers, but it look like worthy causes.” Sam knew there were rumors about Lena Luthor that originated in Metropolis, about her giving a lot of money to charity and it seems they were true.

 

From here on the interview went a bit deeper about where they came from, their plans and a bit about L-Corp and some of their latest products. Soon a hour had gone by and the interview was being wrapped up. The interview would be in the next edition of a revamped CatCo Magazine that was due to come out in a few days. Everyone said goodbye to each other and Lena thanked Sam for the pleasant interview. Now it was a waiting game for everyone’s reaction when the article came out.

 

 

Kara sat down at the VIP booth and took a zip of her cosmopolitan. It was the 21st of December and she and Lena were out with Winn, Alex, Maggie, J’onn, Sam, Jess, Lucy, Barry, Iris, Cisco and Caitlyn. This was one of their last nights in National City as they were going to Midvale to spend Christmas at with Eliza.

 

Kara looked happily at Caitlyn and Iris, who sat across the table from her talking, while overthinking the last few weeks. So much had happened.

 

_The interview had been a big hit. The magazine had sold out within a day and most responses had been positive. There was the usual group of people who were against them or the fact it wasn’t a straight relationship, but most supported their coming out. Paparazzi had been on the sidewalk for a couple of days, but the interview had taken the edge away and soon they were robbing other people of their privacy._

_The fundraisers had been great and in the end they had gone to six of them. They both had opted to wear dresses for the fundraisers and had been in every fashion magazine with their choices. It was the clothing they wore at the final fundraiser for GLAAD that had most people talking. Lena had gone in a dark green dress with an open back, very deep cleavage and a high split. She looked gorgeous, but most people had talked about Kara that evening. She had decided to secretly go out with Sam and surprise Lena. Instead of a dress she had gone in a white, fitted pants suit with black lapels and the jacket was the only thing covering the top part of her body, showing a large amount of skin and cleavage while wearing her hair in a high and tight ponytail._

_Lena had no idea that Kara had gone out and gotten a suit. When Kara came from the bathroom she expected a dress, but instead her mouth went dry and all liquid in her body moved to her pelvis region. Sam had helped them getting dressed and Lena glared at her best friend who had stood there wearing a giant smirk. She knew that this was Sam’s doing since she had once confided that pants suits did things to her._

_Lena had wanted to jump Kara then and there, even if Sam was still in the room, but was talked out of it by Kara who had given the very good argument that people knew they were coming to the fundraiser and couldn’t really cancel._

_They had gotten a lot of attention at the GLAAD fundraiser since they were the new hot couple of the town and everyone had wanted to talk to them. They had talked for hours and especially young girls from several of the GLAAD projects had wanted to know everything._

_Every time they were alone or could speak privately Kara had kept riling her up and kept muttering filthy things in her ears or under her breath, knowing that she could hear it. When the night almost came to an end and just before the sum of the donations was to be announced, Kara had leaned over whispered something in her ear that caused all liquids and heat to move south again._

_Kara knew what for an effect it would have and had seen Lena freeze and shudder. As soon as the total donations was announced Lena had dragged her out of the Museum and had pushed her in their limousine. Lena mentioned how glad she was that the back of the limousine was sound proof and before they were even gone of the driveway Kara’s pants were off and Lena had confirmed that Kara had indeed gone commando._

_If the next day Sam had received a large bouquet of flowers and a thank you card, Kara knew nothing about it._

 

But now, now she was doing something she hadn’t done in a long time. She quickly got up from their booth and walked over to the computer. She selected her choice and quickly got ready. Every one of her friends and family got silent and watched her standing there and waiting.

 

“So, I might be a bit rusty. It has been more than a year and Lena has never witnessed this so, prepare.” Kara warned.

 

Soon the music started playing and everyone knew in an instant what was coming. Kara took the microphone in her hands and looked at the monitor at her feet. It wasn’t long before the text started running and she began.

 

_I don't want a lot for Christmas_

_There's just one thing I need_

_I don't care about the presents_

_Underneath the Christmas tree_

_I just want you for my own_

_More than you could ever know_

_Make my wish come true..._

_All I want for Christmas...._

_Is you..._

 

As soon as the last two lines came Kara pointed to Lena and their eyes locked.

 

Kara had said she was rusty, but Lena believed it was the most angelic sound she had ever heard. Her fiancée could sing. Everyone was impressed and Lena could see Kara enjoy this moment and that she was singing again. She knew Kara used to do Karaoke with Winn and the last time was a long time ago, but now she understood why Kara liked it. She wasn’t going to sing since her voice would strip the paint of the walls, but she was really impressed by Kara.

 

_I don't want a lot for Christmas_

_There is just one thing I need_

_I don't care about the presents_

_Underneath the Christmas tree_

_I don't need to hang my stocking_

_There upon the fireplace_

_Santa Claus won't make me happy_

_With a toy on Christmas day_

_I just want you for my own_

_More than you could ever know_

_Make my wish come true_

_All I want for Christmas is you..._

_You baby_

Kara started jumping all over the stage, releasing a lot of hidden tension she still had. She had missed this. She used to do karaoke with Winn and used it as an outlet, but after everything that had happened there had been no more karaoke. She didn’t want to sing alone all the time and if there was one thing Lena would never do, it was singing.

_I won't ask for much this Christmas_

_I won't even wish for snow_

_I'm just gonna keep on waiting_

_Underneath the mistletoe_

_I won't make a list and send it_

_To the North Pole for Saint Nick_

_I won't even stay awake to_

_Hear those magic reindeer click_

_'Cause I just want you here tonight_

_Holding on to me so tight_

_What more can I do_

_Baby all I want for Christmas is you_

_You..._

_All the lights are shining_

_So brightly everywhere_

_And the sound of children's_

_Laughter fills the air_

_And everyone is singing_

_I hear those sleigh bells ringing_

_Santa won't you bring me the one I really need -_

_won't you please bring my baby to me..._

_Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas_

_This is all I'm asking for_

_I just want to see my baby_

_Standing right outside my door_

_Oh I just want her for my own_

_More than you could ever know_

_Make my wish come true_

_Baby all I want for Christmas is_

_You..._

_All I want for Christmas is you baby..._

 

Kara received a thundering applause from the entire bar and with a shy blush she walked back to the booth. After receiving high five’s from everyone at the table and a very inappropriate kiss for a public setting from Lena, she sat down and ordered another round for the table.

 

After Kara had sang Barry & Iris did a duet of ‘Baby it’s Cold Outside’, Winn did haunting version of Hallelujah that left several people in the bar teared up, Cisco and Caitlyn sang a Jingle bell Rock and everyone except Lena and Alex sang one or more songs the following hours.

 

It was nearing midnight and everyone was tipsy or drunk, except for Alex who had remained sober. Kara had been spiking her and Lena’s drink with some alien alcohol so they could also let go. The bar was closing soon and Kara had one more thing she wanted to do, now that she had some liquid courage. The stage was empty and she quickly reserved it for her and found the song she wanted to sing. She walked back to the table and dragged Lena out of a drunken conversation with Cisco about what Star Trek was better.

 

Lena resisted, fearing she was being pushed to sing, but quickly relented when Kara sat her down on a chair straight in front of the stage, just in front of their groups booth and put a Santa hat on her head.

 

Kara walked back to the stage, grabbed the microphone from the standard and quickly removed her jacket, showing her sleeveless shirt exposing her arms completely. She did a few steps forward until she was in front of Lena. The music started playing and instantly all the girls knew what was coming and Alex groaned loudly. She didn’t want to witness this and wished the ground could swallow her whole.

 

Lena was transfixed on Kara, who was slightly flexing her biceps in front of her and she didn’t notice the music had started until she heard hollering and a groan from behind. She didn’t know the song, but saw the mischievous glint in Kara’s eyes. Lena swallowed heavily and then Kara began to sing in her sweetest and most innocent voice.   

 

_Santa Baby,_  
 _Just slip a sable under the tree_  
 _For me_  
 _Been an awful good girl_  
 _Santa Baby,_  
 _So hurry down the chimney tonight_  


Instead of standing in front of her fiancée Kara turned around, sat down innocently on Lena’s lap and looked over her shoulder. She could see the blackness in Lena’s eyes growing and the green diminishing. She smirked and looked Lena straight in the eyes as she continued.

  
_Santa baby,_  
 _A 54 convertible too_  
 _Light blue_  
 _I'll wait up for you, dear_  
 _Santa baby,_  
 _So hurry down the chimney tonight_  


Kara winked at the girls behind Lena who were giggling at her antic’s and sought eye contact with Lena again. She put on her most extreme puppy eye’s and pout.

  
_Think of all the fun I've missed_  
 _Think of all the girl's that I haven't kissed_  
 _Next year I could be just as good_  
 _If you'll check out my Christmas list_  


Kara winked at her and Lena nearly chocked on her own saliva. She knew that Kara had a very specific thing on her Christmas list and that she was referencing that.

  
_Santa Baby,_  
 _I want a yacht and really that's not_  
 _A lot_  
 _Been an angel all year_  
 _Santa Baby,_  
 _So hurry down the chimney tonight_  


Kara stood up again and walked away several steps, accentuating the movement causing her butt to move more than normal in her tight jeans. She looked over her shoulder with a devilish smile and Lena swallowed hard.

  
_Santa Honey,_  
 _one little thing I really need_  
 _The deed_  
 _To a platinum mine_  
 _Santa Baby,_  
 _So hurry down the chimney tonight_  
  
_Santa cutie,_  
 _Fill my stocking with a duplex_  
 _And checks_  
 _Sign your 'x' on the line_  
 _Santa cutie,_  
 _and hurry down the chimney tonight_  


Lena was still transfixed on Kara as she was now walking towards her again, slightly flexing her arms, which was one of her weak spots. Kara made eye contact again and this time sat down, straddling Lena and facing her.

  
_Come and trim my Christmas tree_  
 _With some decorations bought at Tiffany's_  
 _I really do believe in you_  
 _Let´s see if you believe in me_  
  
_Santa Baby,_  
 _Forgot to mention one little thing_  
 _A ring_  
 _I don't mean on the phone_  
 _Santa Baby,_  
 _So hurry down the chimney tonight_  
 _Hurry down the chimney tonight_  
 _Hurry...tonight_

As soon as the song was over more hollering and clapping came from their table and Kara could see Lena’s eyes were as dark as the night. She quickly got up from Lena’s lap and as soon as she was off, Lena got up and pulled Kara with her towards the exit. As Lena dragged Kara out she yelled to the group, “I have let them put all drinks on my account. I’ll pay it tomorrow. Kara and I have to be somewhere.” There wasn’t even time to say goodbye before they were out the door and the group that had remained behind started laughing.

 

“Wow, Little Danvers sure knocked that one out of the park,” Maggie giggled.

 

“Oh yeah,” Lucy added. “Lena was looking quite thirsty. What do you think? Will they make it home before Lena devours her or will Kara join the mile high club?” Lucy said to the group, with a smirk and she winked to Alex.

 

Alex groaned loudly and wished she was still drinking. She could have lived happily without knowing about her sisters foreplay.


	23. Jingle Bells

Kara woke up groggy and gently rubbed her eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them. She looked at the alarm clock and saw it was already almost noon. Looking over, expecting to see dark hair she only saw white sheets. Last night had been nothing short of epic. Lena had made her join the mile high club flying back from the Karaoke bar and hadn’t stopped at that. It wasn’t often that Kara was sore while she had her powers, but this was one of those times.  

 

Kara gently hovered out of bed and focused her hearing, trying to find her missing fiancée. Suddenly there was a loud high pitched noise and Kara winced at the sound and the following cursing. Well, at least she knew where Lena was now. Quickly putting on some underwear and the sleeveless shirt from the night before she made her way to the kitchen.

 

Lena was still wincing and silently cursing from the loud noise of her dropping a pan when she felt two arms wrapping around her from behind. She threw her head back as she felt two lips connect to her neck and heard a mumbled, “Morning, Lee.” Kara laid her head on Lena’s shoulder and Kara looked at what Lena was doing.

 

“Morning Kar. Did I wake you?” Lena managed to get out. Damn that weak spot on her neck and telling Kara about it.

 

“No, I had just woken up. Very lonely though.” Kara said with a small pout as Lena saw the reflection in the cabinet door in front of her.

 

Lena chuckled. “Well, after last night I thought we both needed some food. I was just starting with breakfast. Eggs, bacon and hash browns. You like?”

 

“Love it. Do you need any help?”

 

“Can you grab the skillet?”

 

“Sure, no problem.” Kara released her hold of Lena and moved over a few cabinets, bending, to grab the skillet from the bottom cabinet. Lena managed to look over when Kara just opened the door and her brain froze and went on an early vacation. Lace underwear, short sleeveless shirt from the previous night and Kara bend over. If she hadn’t known she was gay, she definitely knew now.

 

Kara placed the skillet on the counter top and before she knew hit her she was being dragged off to the bedroom, just like the previous night at the bar.

 

“I’m going to destroy that shirt and that underwear. It is way to powerfull. Breakfast can wait. I have other things to eat first.” Lena said as she dragged Kara in the bedroom. “We have a few more hours before our plane to Midvale leaves and I expect to spend it in here.” Lena made clear and who was Kara to argue with that reasoning?

 

 

They arrived later that afternoon at Eliza’s and had managed to be half an hour before schedule. As they walked in in the living room they were greeted by Eliza, Alex and Maggie. Alex and Maggie had driven their bikes and were still warming up from the cold, nursing large glasses of hot chocolate to that end.

 

Kara and Lena sat down as well and Eliza brought them also cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marsh mellows. Eliza hadn’t said anything to Lena and Kara, but she had told Alex it mend a lot to her that Alex and Kara were talking again. She was also really happy that they all came home to spend Christmas with each other. The house had felt empty lately.

 

Everyone chatted freely and where discussing the Karaoke night and the last few weeks. Kara received a high five from Maggie and a sigh from her sister after she had turned beet red when Maggie explained what Lucy had said after they left the night before. After some more hot chocolate they ordered in Indian food for what appeared to be a football team, but most was for two hungry Kryptonian’s. While they were waiting for the delivery Kara had a silent conversation with Lena and they agreed now was a good time to make a few announcement’s.

 

“Lena and I have some announcement’s to make.” Kara started hesitantly.

 

Alex grunted. “Oh god, you’re not pregnant are you?”

 

Kara sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose between the eyes and glared at her sister, not angry but in disbelief. “Alex!. No, I’m not pregnant and neither is Lena. Why is that your go to answer? You have been my doctor for years now. You know I’m anatomically human. There is nothing weird downstairs. If you need to be reminded, ask Lena. She has seen what’s down there up close.”

 

Lena turned beet red at being reminded about that in company of her soon to be mother in law. Both Eliza and Maggie laughed out loud at Kara’s antics and Alex just got red and mumbled an excuse and that it will probably be her answer for other time’s as well.

 

Kara held on to Lena’s hand as they sat side by side on the couch, next to a crackling fire in the fireplace. “Now that Alex up to date on my lady parts, Lena and I want to make a few announcements. First we wanted to announce that we are almost finished with the first test setup of the Air Scrubber. We will start testing after new year.”

 

“That’s great you two. Do you expect any problems?” Eliza asked.

 

“Not many hopefully.” Lena answered. “We expect a few because this is the first time Kara adapts things to earth technology and I’m not good with Kryptonian technology yet. Mostly we want to test if our adaption works and work from there to improve it or dumb it down more.”

 

“Sounds great. I really hope you get it working. This will be revolutionary.” Eliza told them. “what more announcement’s do you have?”

 

“Well, I told all of you I was also working on a ‘pet’ project of mine right?”

 

Eliza, Alex and Maggie nodded. Kara had told them that, but never explained what kind of project that was.

 

“Well, I have already finished it and it is working in the lab as we speak. Since this is a project that will not be released to the general population I have been able to keep it completely Kryptonian and follow the manuals and construction plans. In about three weeks Lena and I will be the proud owners of a Kryptonian Cat, that we will name Streaky.”

 

“Oh wow. I guess it really was a pet project.” Maggie quips.

 

“Wait, you have made a growing chamber for Kryptonian animals?” Alex suddenly asks and she looks like she is about to faint.

 

“Yes. The Fortress contains DNA information on all animals and plants that have ever been on Krypton. The chamber I build can grow both of them.”

 

“Oh wow. I guess it now suddenly hit’s me how advanced Krypton was.” Alex said. “Will the animals or plants have any powers?”

 

“I have no idea. Maybe? There is no information on that. Streaky will be the first test on that. After that I want to recreate a ‘ _krestaniv_ ’. That was a plant chosen to be the representation of Argo City. It should have large green leaves and rainbow colored flowers with a diameter of over one meter.”

 

“That sounds great honey. I hope you will show it to us some time.” Eliza said. With her background in bio engineering she was very interested in the science behind it all. Maybe Kara would explain that as well at some point.

 

“I will.” Kara answered. She glanced quickly to Lena and signaled her. “We have one more thing to tell you, and I give the honors of that to my fiancée.”

 

With all eyes on her, Lena managed to get a bit nervous. She could stare down an entire room of old white men who thought she was just the ‘help’, but under the gaze of what would be her family that confidence was gone as fast as snow in the Sahara. She held Kara’s hand tighter and Kara gave a comforting squeeze.

 

Lena took a deep breath and decided to go for it. “Well, the last piece of news is that Kara and I will be moving sometime next year.”

 

Alex her smile faltered and she quickly got thinking if there had been something wrong again. As far as she knew everything was good and relationships were still being mended. “Where are you moving to?” She asked hesitantly.

 

“Well, recently we bought a large amount of land at the coast, just south-west of National City. We are going to build a home there. It’s a large plot at the cliffs overlooking the ocean and the house will be at the cliffs edge with a forest on the other side.” Lena explained.

 

“Were you not happy in your penthouse? That place is awesome.” Maggie asked. She had only been there a couple of times, but she really liked that place.

 

“We are happy there.” Kara answered. “But we are planning on having more pet’s after streaky  so we would like to have space for them to run around in. For example, after the plant we wanted to try and create a Kryptonian dog. I have only seen one once since they were rare on Krypton, but these dogs are awesome. They are almost as smart as humans, they are incredibly loyal and also hard working. I want to name the first one Krypto.” Kara said with a smile. She really likes dogs.

 

“And we thought it would be better if we got super powered animals that we had some privacy as well. In the city we would have none of that.” Lena added.

 

“Yes, and we want to make a better and more secure spot for interdimensional travel.  Not a breach in the middle of our living room anymore. Also we can make it a lot more secure if we build something new. I want to add certain Kryptonian technologies to the house so we will be as secure as possible.” Kara looked at Alex. “Do you remember Tony Stark’s house from the Iron Man movies?

 

“Yes?” Alex answered.

 

“We want to do something like that. Enough room for when we want children, space for our pets, more privacy and more security. While the penthouse is quite secure, it was not designed with that in mind. And we can have an outdoor relaxing area now. We can recharge our solar levels in the full sun, something that we can’t really do at the penthouse. Also the view of the ocean will not hurt either.” Kara winked at Alex at that.

 

“And Kara can fly in and out with less chance of being noticed.” Lena added as well. “It will add a bit of time to my commute to the office, but it’s a small price to pay.”

 

“Well, good luck and I hope you will invite us to the housewarming party when it’s done.” Eliza winked at Lena and Kara.

 

“Definitely. You can be sure of that.” Lena answered.

 

At that moment the doorbell rang and the food had arrived. The entire kitchen counter was now covered in food and they decided to eat on the couch, keeping up at the relax atmosphere of the evening.

 

After dinner, which had been entirely consumed with no small part to the two Kryptonian garbage disposals, everyone was sitting in the living room again and watching Christmas movies. After a very effective pout from Kara, they decided to watch Home Alone 1 & 2 that night.

 

Alex was watching the movie, but only paying attention about half of the time. She was watching her little sister. She noticed Kara was looking even happier and Lena as well. Kara had come out of her shell and had now truly become Kara Zor-El. She had charmed the press and people at several fundraisers over the past month and the Luthor name was redeeming itself now that Lillian and Lex had been silenced.

 

She saw her sister snuggle closer to her fiancée and both were wrapped into each other. Alex could admit that she was becoming a bit jealous of her sister. Her star was rising every day and now she was going to build a house with her fiancée. Alex knew the location and it was absolutely beautiful there, but it would almost double the travel time, compared to now, if they wanted to meet up. Alex felt like she was standing still. Ever since Cadmus had been taken down, the DEO hadn’t been the same. The workload had dropped immensely and there had been close to no fighting. Frankly, she was becoming bored. And then there was Maggie. Things were going good, but not as good as they had been. No overtime and more workable hours had caused them to be home a lot more and cracks had started to appear. Alex had been thinking about proposing, but now she was doubting. She had seen Maggie’s face when kids were mentioned and it was looking more and more that Maggie didn’t want kids. She wasn’t sure herself what she wanted. She had always wanted to have children, but then again she also thought she liked men for most of her life. She really needed to overthink several things.

 

Alex was thrown out of her own thoughts when a new log landed on the fire. She looked around and nobody had noticed she hadn’t been paying attention. All these thought could wait for now. It was Christmas and it was the time for happy thoughts.

 

 

The next morning they all were having breakfast together. Eliza had asked where J’onn and Winn where since they normally joined them for Christmas. Kara informed her that this year Winn was on a Christmas singles cruise to the Caribbean. He had a lot of overtime that had to be used before the end of the year and J’onn was in National City meeting with other aliens and celebrating Christmas with them. Kara asked Alex if she knew what had happened to Mon-El. Alex knew and told them that Mon-El was now working as a bouncer and mover in Miami, being an out and proud alien. When Kara gently asked about James, Alex, Eliza and Lena stiffened. Everyone looked at Alex and she told them she hadn’t spoken to him since Kara had kicked him out, but what she knew was that Winn had spoken with him and apparently James had sold everything and moved to London.    

 

The day was spend with grocery shopping and visiting Midvale’s Christmas market. Lena had made it loud and clear she was going to pay for the food since Eliza would probably go broke trying to feed two Kryptonians and Eliza had to agree with that. Kara and Lena ended up hauling over twenty bags of groceries into the house, which would feed them for several days. At the Christmas Market Kara ended up eating a snack from every vendor that was there and ride in the Ferris wheel with Alex and Maggie. Lena and Eliza opted to stay to the solid ground and both of them bonded a bit more over their shared fear of heights.

 

At the market Kara had gotten a text from Lucy that she had safely arrived in Smallville and that she hadn’t tried to kill her sister yet, to which Kara had chuckled. Kara had invited Lucy to join them in Midvale, but the tiny director had decided to go and visit her sister and Clark. Lucy and Lois had slowly been restoring their sisterhood now that the main obstacle, their father, was out of the picture. Kara knew that Lucy secretly was happy about having her sister back in her life now that is was just them left.      

 

The 24th of December Kara and Lena surprised everyone by taking them Earth 1’s Central City for another Christmas market. They were joined by Barry, Iris, Caitlyn and Cisco who wanted to meet the new people arriving. Central City’s Christmas market as it turned out was much larger then Midvale’s and had food, ornaments and nick knacks that didn’t exist on their own earth. Kara and Barry had to make several trips at super speed to store everyone’s purchases at Star Labs, since the shopping was not done yet. Everyone was having fun and laughing while drinking and eating several seasonal products. Kara was glad that they had come here and slowly felt another crack repairing. It had been a long time since she and Alex had laughed without their problems in the back of their minds. But right now, things were definitely better. Kara made her way over to Alex and out of nowhere gave her a big hug, something they hadn’t done in months. Everyone saw the meaning behind this and Lena, Eliza and Maggie all teared up slightly. So did Alex and Kara, but they could hide it in the radicicolous large scarfs they were wearing.

 

Soon the sun was going down in Central City and the group made their way to Star Labs, while Kara and Barry went to Big Belly Burger to get a ‘nutritional’ dinner for the group. Everyone at the table ate a burger with a side of fries, except for the two Kryptonians and the speedster. They together ate eighteen burgers in the same time everyone else ate one. Lena had to admit, these things where much better than a daily kale salad. She loved that she could eat all she wanted now.

 

After returning to Midvale, Eliza, Alex, Maggie, Kara and Lena spend the rest of the evening playing board games and Eliza had started on several dishes for the next day. After everyone had gone to bed, Kara an Lena snuck out and sat down at the end of the garden in the swinging chair that overlooked the beach and sea. They sat snuggled into each other, gently swinging and looking over the ocean. Even though it was cold, it didn’t matter to them since they couldn’t feel it.

 

“Merry Christmas, Lee.” Kara said, snuggling closer into her fiancée’s arms.

 

“Merry Christmas to you as well, darling.” Lena kissed Kara’s head, who made a very content noise.

 

“I have a present for you Lee. I know we will all exchange gifts tomorrow morning, but I thought we could give our private presents now already.”

 

“I thought the same Kar. I need to go into the house to get it though.”

 

“I’ll join you. Be silent though, everyone is asleep.” Kara and Lena made their way back to the house and quickly got the gifts from their luggage. They met each other at the swinging chair again and Kara had quickly lit the fire pit to make it more romantic and provide some lighting.

 

“Lee, here is my present for you.” Kara gives Lena a small, but tall box that is wrapped with lead lined paper and a ribbon. Lena gently unwraps the gift and opens the box gently. In it is the most beautiful necklace she has ever seen. A extremely clear diamond in the middle, with on the side’s a smaller green and blue sapphire and next to that on both sides a small red rock. All was being held together by a metal she couldn’t determine.

 

“The diamond in the middle I have made myself. Heat vision and a lot of squeezing gave me that diamond.” Kara explained. “The blue and green rock sapphire’s are actually from the same stone’s as the engagement rings are made of. And the two small red rocks are sapphire’s, infused with Kryptolize.”

 

“Oh Kara, I love it. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much. What is the chain made of though? I don’t recognize it.”

 

“It’s actually an alien metal called ‘nth metal’. It’s so strong that we can’t actually break it.”

 

“Thank you Kara.” Lena leaned in an gave a kiss that made Kara happy she was sitting down.

 

Lena leaned down and got Kara’s gift. It was a large rectangle package, but fairly thin. “Be careful Kara, it’s breakable.”

 

Kara was handed the gift and she slowly and gently unwrapped it. She gasped when she saw what it was. “Oh Lena, it’s beautiful. Thank you so much”. In Kara’s hand was a large tempered glass sheet with a 3D engraving of Kara’s entire birth family. There was a titanium casing all around and it was ready to be hung onto a wall.

 

“Your welcome Kara. But there is more to this gift then you think. You see, I asked Clark for help making it. He took me to the Fortress and together with him and Kelex I made this. If this is mounted on a wall, normally you will see a glass etching of your family. But if you press your thumb on a certain spot, it will project your family pictures in the room.”

 

“Thank you Lena. I love it.” Kara gave Lena a quick kiss. “Shall we do our 2nd present now as well?”

 

“I think that would be best Kar. I for one don’t want to do it with your family present.” Lena had send Kara an link to an online test a few months ago that had quizzed them thoroughly on all things bedroom related. To say there had been a few interesting results, was an understatement. A few weeks before Christmas they had talked and decided that they would gift each other one of the things on the lists.          

 

“Well Lee, to give you my present I have made a small video. You want me to show it?” Lena nodded vehemently and Kara chuckled as she opened the video on her phone. Lena watched the screen and blushed.

 

_“Lee, if you see this video it means Christmas has arrived. So merry Christmas Lee” Kara said with heart eyes. “I combined two of your answers on the test we filled in and this is my present to you.”_

_Kara walked off screen and a *whoosh*  could be heard next to the camera. A few seconds later Kara reappeared and was now wearing an exact copy of her Red K suit._

_“Lee, one of your answers was that you would like to see me dressed up and specifically the Red K suit. I made an exact copy of it and this is part 1 of your present my love.” Kara said._

 

Lena was blushing even more and she watched Kara’s face as they had watched that part of the video. “Love the suit Kara. I can’t wait to see it up close.”

 

“Oh, you will see it up close.” Kara said confidently and Lena shuddered at the confident and bit cocky Kara. It wasn’t often Kara let that side see and it was a massive turn on. “There is more Lee, just keep watching.”

 

_“Part two of the gift is something we both wanted, but were afraid to do due to our fame. Now I have used some insider information from when you weren’t a Kryptonian and combined it with this wish.” Kara waved her hand slightly and looked a next to the camera._

_On the other side of the screen Sara Lance walked in,  wearing the latest White Canary costume, with the cleavage and jumpsuit style.”_

Lena her breathing stopped as she saw the video. Sara walked on the screen in what she had found one of the hottest superhero costume’s she had ever seen. When Kara had been training on the island her heart had fluttered a few times when she had seen Sara fighting in that suit.

 

Before Lena could question it she saw Kara approaching Sarah and what happened next made her brain go into useless lesbian mode. Her fiancée was kissing Sara. They were wearing their very hot superhero suits and there was a lot more tongue involved then appropriate, but they were kissing. On screen. With a camera. And she was watching it…..

_Kara and Sara let go of one other, smiled and turned to the camera. “Lee, the 2 nd part of the gift is that you will become the filling in a White Canary and Superwoman sandwich. From Friday night on the 14th of January till the following Sunday evening we will spend two glorious day’s at Oliver’s tropical vacation home, together with Sara and we are planning on making all your dream’s and fantasies come true. Don’t be late!” Kara added and both she and Sara winked at the camera._

 

Kara looked shyly at Lena, who was still staring with her mouth open at the small screen. It took a few seconds before Lena turned her head and Kara could see two black eyes watching hungrily at her. “I take it you like what you saw?” Kara asked innocently.

 

Lena sputtered a bit before she could answer. “Liked? That was hot as hell Kara. I’ll text Eve the 27th straight away that she keeps that weekend free. There will be nothing interrupting that weekend. I will guarantee you that.“

 

Kara smiled at that and she and Lena shared a deep kiss which conveyed the many emotions they were feeling and that they both wished they weren’t in Midvale right now.

 

“My present to you Kara will seem small in comparison I’m afraid.” Lena grabbed her phone and pulled up a picture. Lena watched as Kara’s eyes locked onto the image and she instantly saw darkening eyes and retreating blue.

 

Kara watched the picture and was beginning to feel hot. “That is most definitely not small Lena. Especially that thing.” Kara said as she pointed at the screen. On the picture was their kitchen table and on it were cuffs, restraints, an eye mask, gags, whips and several new toys that could go into one or more openings. Kara shivered all over and Lena noticed it. She smiled devilishly at her fiancée and husked in her ear. “What is it Kara? Like what you see? And to think we could do this as soon as we return. Are you ready to give up all control?”

 

Kara shivered again and her eyes had now become completely black as she turned and looked at her love. “We are going to go inside now, place the presents safely in a room and then we are going to have some really quiet fun. There is no way I can sleep now that you have made me see this.”

 

“I agree Kar. Let’s go.” Lena said with an husky voice. “I need to get that picture of you and Sara out of my brain otherwise I will slide off my chair tomorrow morning.” They almost super speeded into the house after that and as far as they could tell nobody knew about anything that had happened.

 

 

The next morning everyone was in the living room drinking coffee after just waking up. It was almost time to give each other presents and everyone was trying to trick someone into spoiling the presents. Kara and Lena sat snuggled together on the couch, but their cheeks were beet red and they were trying to keep themselves from looking mortified. While they thought they had been silent, apparently Maggie was a light sleeper who needed the toilet in the night. Unbeknownst to Alex and Eliza she kept muttering filthy things under her breath, knowing that the two kryptonian’s could hear her. She wasn’t sure what was a better present for her today. Alex her gift, the gifts to come or this material to annoy Kara and Lena with for years to come.

 

Sitting around the Christmas tree that took in half the living room, which everyone had scolded Kara for. One would expect an Kryptonian with their superior brains and eyes to be able to size a tree to the room. Everyone sat together eating small pastries while sharing gifts.

 

Alex and Maggie had given Kara and Lena several bottles of Alien alcohol. Some that wasn’t even for sale at the alien bar and were not often found on earth. It included a drink Kara had tasted only once and had shared with her father. As an exception she had been allowed to join her father to a science conference on Starhaven and they had drank that together. She never understood why she was allowed to have alcohol as a little girl, but thinking back she thinks her father had already known about their planet’s fate and he wanted to do this with his daughter before it was too late. Another bottle was almost like an earth wine, but it was made out of forty five different berry’s and grapes from Termino V. It is a rare and expensive bottle of wine, not often found on earth. Maggie had confiscated it from a black market dealer during a raid and it had been sitting in storage for the last year. Nobody had claimed it and Maggie had suggested to her captain that she would be allowed to gift it to Superwoman as a thanks for all her hard work for the city, which he had allowed.

 

The couple had given Eliza several bottles of wine from Eliza’s favorite vineyard and a couple of bags of coffee straight from Brazil. Alex knew Eliza liked to grind her own coffee and that this would make her very happy.

 

As a second present to everyone, including themselves, they gave everyone Christmas onesies. They were hoping that it could be a new tradition for them to spend Christmas morning in those and everyone agreed and quickly changed into their gifts for the rest of the morning.

 

Eliza was next and she had decided to gift her daughters and their girlfriends one of her most valuable possessions. Alex and Kara were in awe at what they had been given, while their girlfriends didn’t really know what it was.

 

Eliza had given them a copy of her recipe book. A book that had been given to her from her mother and before that her mother had gotten in from their grandmother. Since there was only one book, she had rewritten every recipe, made every dish and photographed it to make two new books with the family’s most treasured recipes. While she would keep the original, she knew that both Maggie and Lena were quite proficient in the kitchen and both her daughters loved some of the recipes in it. Especially the chocolate pecan pie and she wanted to make sure they could eat them a lot more often.

 

Kara and Alex, together with their significant others hugged Eliza and promised to invite her to try the recipes and make sure they tasted like they were mend to.

 

The second present of Eliza are ugly and obnoxious Christmas sweaters for everyone to wear for the remainder of Christmas. While it was mend to be ugly and obnoxious, Kara absolutely loved it and was already irritating everyone with the ’Rudolph, the red nose reindeer’ song coming from the shirt. Kara beamed and even through Lena was already fearing she was going to whistle that song till next Christmas, she was happy Kara liked it so much.

 

Last, but not least were Kara and Lena with their presents. They weren’t really sure what present’s to get everyone, but a recent deal they had made had given them a good and special option. Kara gave the couple and Eliza both an envelope and everyone was wondering what was in it.

 

Both opened the envelope at the same time and Eliza and Alex gasped loudly at what they found. It was a travel ticket for a two week vacation on earth 1 at a destination of their choosing.

 

Kara showed them a folder she had made showing what destinations were available to them and explained what was going on. She explained that an idea that they had had after their summer vacation had sparked interest on earth 1 as well and Team Flash, Team Arrow, Team Legends and Team SuperCorp had set up a interdimensional ‘travel agency’ with destinations mostly containing houses or islands owned by either Lena on this earth or Oliver Queen on Earth 1. Mostly to give superheroes and their family a break and complete anonymity when needed.

 

Kara and Lena received thank you and hugs from everyone and Lena showed that there was another present for everyone. Mama Danvers opened hers first and out came a soft, beige robe with a few red rose’s stitched in. Those were her favorite flowers. Quickly after her the other couple opened there present and Alex had received the same robe, but blue and Maggie also a robe, only that one was purple. Lena told them to turn the robe around and both Alex and Maggie laughed out loud at the back of their robe’s. Both had an chalk outline of a dead body on the back and above it the text ‘My crime scene!’.

 

Everyone thanked one other for the gifts they received and they went on to spend the morning listening to Christmas music and watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie from 1964. Soon it was lunchtime and while the two Kryptonians ate a quick meal to lessen their hunger, the others started preparing their evening meal. After their lunch Kara and Lena joined them, but in 30 minutes Kara and Alex had managed to get themselves banned from the kitchen. Kara for eating too much food and bending the kitchen knife when she saw a chocolate pecan pie while Alex was banned because she had managed to boil and burn eight eggs due to her ‘forgetting’ that it didn’t take that long and that boiling water evaporates.

 

However that evening, a massive feast had been prepared and not even two living  garbage disposals managed to eat everything that had been prepared.


	24. Are Those Bells I’m Hearing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of this story. I hope you all had fun reading and i might do one shots based on this story in the future (kind of underestimated how much work a entire story is). Thank you all for reading and a happy 2019!

Kara had enough of it. She couldn’t take it anymore. She speed walked into a secluded part of the island and took off, leaving behind a small dust cloud.

 

It wasn’t a long flight before she finally found the silence and peace she needed. She landed on another island and a quick scan confirmed it was empty and that there was no security system in the vicinity. She blew away a layer of sand from a chair and sat herself down, releasing a deep breath and letting all tension and anxiety fall from her shoulders. She closed her eyes and all she heard was waves crashing onto the rocks and birds chirping around. She was becoming relaxed again and she felt her mind starting to relive the last year and a half.

 

_It had been 24 days after Christmas and Kara was working on improving the Air Scrubber when an alarm went off in her lab. Pulling up the information on the wall mounted touchscreen she saw it was the alarm of the animal chamber, notifying her that birth was to be expected within two hours._

_Kara quickly called her fiancée, who was in the middle of reading research proposals and told her that they were going to become a pet parents within two hours. Lena cleared her day with Eve and went on the way to her private lab, where Kara was now working full time. She had only needed to step out two days in the new year to help with two devastating avalanches in Europe._

_An hour and a half later they had become parents to an amazing Kryptonian cat. Red fur with white patterns in it covered the entire body and if they hadn’t known it origins, it would easily pass as an earth cat. Streaky was born and about the size of a thirteen week old kitten. Kara had stayed at the office nearly a week with Lena dropping by after her work as well. Together they studied the kitten and exposed it to yellow sun lamps, red sun lamps and Kryptonite. There had been no reactions to the elements and after almost an week of yellow sun exposure no powers had manifested. It was then they thought it was safe enough to take Streaky home with them._

_That had been a giant mistake. As it turned out, Streaky had powers. Just not they had expected. Streaky was smart, loyal and a very calm cat, but had one superpower. It wanted attention and rubs as soon as someone was home and preferably constantly throughout the night. Also she could make a pleading and pouting expression that made Kara’s look weak. It had taken all their will power and strength to ignore the pleading face of Streaky, but in the end they won and streaky had become obedient. Kara had researched Kryptonian cat’s before it was born and they, together with Kryptonian dogs, required the owners to be dominant and in charge. Then it would easily listen to all commands given by their owners._

Kara sighed and opened one eye. The island was still empty and no one was looking for her. She closed it again and relaxed into the chair, going to the next memory.

 

_After much testing, reviewing and researching and more testing Lena had prepared an announcement. It was early September, National City’s green week had been going on for almost a week and the last day had arrived. National City’s green week focused on all green technology and initiatives and with L-Corp’s recent steps in going green and green technology, Lena had been invited to speak as honored guest at the main conference. Something she never had expected because of her last name. Several people had held talks about their companies recent research, initiatives and products and Lena had been next._

_Lena was stressing and Kara had tried to relax her. The last time her girlfriend had held a public speech outdoors, a hitman send by her brother had tried to kill her. Remembering she was now impenetrable she calmed down a bit and made her way on the stage._

_Kara had set front row next to Eliza when Lena started her speech about L-Corp’s green mission and initiatives. It was then that Lena did something unexpected and had called Kara to the stage next to her. Kara didn’t have an idea what was happening and under a small applause she made her way next to Lena._

_Lena waited until Kara stood next to her before she continued. “I kept the best and most recent development of L-Corp under wraps until now. This started as a passion project from both of us and went on to much more after that. My fiancée, Kara, had been a journalist, but that was not where her real passion was. She had a gift that not many people knew about and it was science. She is one of the smartest people I know and she joined me at L-Corp. I have my work and duties as CEO of L-Corp, but Kara could spend more time working on our passion projects. I called her here on stage because she deserves to be here revealing our passion project, and L-Corp’s latest, as much as me. If not more. So without further delay, I present you the future!” Lena ended her small speech strong and looked up._

_Everyone looked up and saw Superwoman flying into the park carrying a shipping container with a giant L-Corp logo on the side. Kara recognized Superwoman as J’onn’s flying and it became clear to her Lena had planned to include her into the receiving credit for her part in the project._

_Superwoman set down the container and released a pin from the top of the container. The side’s fell open and an intricate system of tubes, chamber and electronics became visible._

_“Thank you Superwoman for the help.” Lena said and got the attention back from the crowd and press. “You might wonder what this machine is. It is simple. It is an Air Scrubber. It takes in air and removes all unwanted elements before exhausting clean, breathable air. It only needs power for the startup, but after that it uses scrubbed elements to power itself. The unwanted elements come out of the machine in solid, inert cubes and can be used as source material or stored safely.”_

_Lena took a breath before continuing. “To make it simple. This device can be connected to exhausts, ventilation systems or anywhere else where there is air. Even in the middle of an corn field in Iowa. It will take in the air from the system or the area around and out comes clean air with all unwanted elements removed. This should greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and as a result slow down, stop and reduce global warming. Install these devices at the end of an power plant that run’s on coal or gas and no more dirty exhaust. Only clean air and the unwanted elements can be safely stored or used in other products. This device will be on sale starting the end of November and will be available worldwide. Thank you all for listening and let’s safe the world one carbon cube at a time.” Lena ended her speech and a giant roar of applause and yelling started._

_The next few days L-Corp and Lena nearly buckled under the press requests, invites and interviews. It looked like every media outlet worldwide had contacted them and Lena had invited dozens of outlet’s from all over the world and several college/university classes to a demonstration two weeks later. It showed the working product at a L-Corp factory that exhausted large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Showing the working technology had put a large dent in some other companies who hadn’t believed the technology worked and independent researchers had measured the in- and output showing that the exhaust was clean and it was not a trick._

_Orders had been flying in, even before the official launch and L-Corp was selling the units by the thousands per day, causing production to be ramped up. Already Shanghai had less smog then in several decades before and it was getting better every day._

Kara was still sitting back in the beach chair as she heart someone landing next to her. It weren’t the soft steps of her fiancée, but heavier ones.

 

“So, here you have run off too.”

 

Kara looked at the woman and smiled. “I went crazy back there. Who knew there would be so many people involved in a wedding. I needed some peace and quiet before someone got heat visioned.” Kara joked.

 

“I agree. There were a lot of people there. May I join you Little One? I can use some quiet as well.”

 

“Take a seat Aunt Astra.” Kara said and both woman sat calmly overlooking the sea, not saying a word but still speaking volume’s with that act.

 

_Kara had saved a large amount of the carbon and methane output from their prototype Air Scrubber and sold it to a Xenti. His ship’s interstellar engines needed a pure form of these elements and the scrubber could provide this. In return for providing these materials the Xenti flew his ship to coordinates Kara had provided from the sensors in the Fortress. Still well within the solar system Kara had the Xenti retrieve the pod Astra had been buried in. The conditions in space were favorable to preserve a body and Kara hoped she could revive her aunt using the healing chamber in the fortress._

_It took nearly a day, but the wait was worth it. The chamber had been able to heal the Kryptonite stab wound and Kara had cried on Lena’s shoulder when the chamber confirmed resuscitation was possible. It took another few hours, but then the chamber opened and Astra was alive and well. Before Astra woke up  Lena put a custom made  red sun bracelet on Astra’s arm. It was unbreakable, remote controlled and for now activated. They didn’t want to take any chances and hoped Astra would remain calm._

_It had taken a several hours and long talks to get Astra up to date on what had happened and why Astra had the bracelet and was powerless. To their surprise Astra understood the precautions completely and was happy Non was dead. Her heart hadn’t been in the Myriad solution, but she let Non convince her. She was happy just having Kara back in her life and wanted to build a new life on earth, together with Kara, Kal-El and the new Kryptonian spouses._

_Kara had introduced Astra to everyone a few days later and the reactions had been mixed. Eliza and Kal-El understood what this meant for Kara, but Alex, J’onn, Lucy and Winn were weary because of the history. It took come convincing but in the end they couldn’t do anything since Astra had never been indicted and had been tortured by the US government before her death._

_But as it turned out, all fear was for nothing and Astra just wanted to live her life in peace now that she could. Even though she was from the Military Guild, Astra still had a lot of knowledge from Krypton and was part time working at the DEO, upgrading their alien database and she worked part time on multiple earth’s as a fight instructor. Working with other hero’s, training them to fight with and without powers._

Astra sat next to her and Kara laid her head on Astra’s shoulder as they overlooked the ocean. Both sighed happily that they had each other again. Astra had missed Kara tremendously after being sentenced to Fort Ross, just like Kara had missed her during that time and after her death.

 

Several minutes later they were still overlooking the ocean as Kara’s mind drifted off again, only this time to a less the good moment.

 

_Kara was in the fortress, reading more Kryptonian research when she heard the Fortress door open and a frantic Lena enter. She immediately got up from behind the console and Lena told her that Alex had been seriously injured at the DEO and that it wasn’t looking good._

_Lena could still not really fly and had placed and emergency call to Cisco to transport her to the fortress. Kara went back the same way and ended up in Lena’s L-Corps office. She quickly changed into her Superwoman suit and let her hearing reach out to Alex. What she heard was a unsteady heartbeat. She lifted Lena up and flew with her directly into the DEO._

_Kara saw her sister laying on the table of the operating room and nearly lost it. Her mind kept going thousand miles an hour. This wasn’t supposed to happen. After more than a year things had finally gone back to normal and they were close again. As a Christmas present Kara was going to give Alex the option to become a Kryptonian as well. And now, two weeks before Christmas this had happened. Alex didn’t even work fulltime at the DEO anymore. Her thoughts kept repeating itself and Kara got worked up._

_Lena tried to calm her fiancée down, but it was not working. She knew how happy Kara was that she had her sister back and that they were as close as before. Lena tried to be the calm person in the room and immediately called Eliza to fly to National City. Eliza was there within half an hour, thanks to her conversion three weeks earlier and like Lena, was the calm one in the room._

_Soon the doctor came out with news about Alex her situation and Kara fell to her knees when she heard what had happened. Apparently Alex had been in her lab and needed to add a few chemicals to a running experiment. The manufacturer of one of those chemicals had mislabeled the bottle and it had caused a massive explosion in the lab. J’onn had phased through the rubble and retrieved Alex from the remnants of the lab. When the doctor told all of Alex her injuries, Kara’s mind went blank. Alex had a severe concussion, dozens of lacerations, broken right arm, broken ribs, collapsed lung, bruised kidney, amputated left arm and everything below her left knee. It was more or less a miracle she was still alive._

_Kara began to blame herself for this. If only she hadn’t gone to the Fortress that morning. If she had remained in National City Alex would have gone straight to her almost full time job at Kara and Lena’s private L-Corp lab and continue her work on the quick growing trees. But now she hadn’t and her life was hanging in the balance. Alex had fought dozens of aliens and, now that alien attacks were almost nonexistent, a wrong label was possibly going to kill her. Kara couldn’t cope._

_Lena had called Lucy as soon as she had hung up on Eliza and told her to get to National City as soon as possible because her girlfriend was in critical condition at the DEO. Alex and Lucy had begun dating nearly half a year earlier. Alex and Maggie had decided to split a month after Christmas after several fights about having kids. Alex knew she wanted to be a mother at some point, but Maggie completely refused and that had ended their relationship. Kara had been so proud that Alex hadn’t fallen back to the bottle and Alex had coped well with the loss. But now, I might all be for nothing._

_An hour later Alex had been stabilized and it was now a waiting game. There was a 99% chance that her injuries and blood loss were too severe for her to survive and Kara was falling into a black abys. Kara had been walking around the waiting room and the floor had actually been worn down several inches. It was then that she had an epiphany. Before anyone could say anything Kara flew out of the DEO and came back a minute later through a breach dragging Cisco with her._

_Kara quickly explained her plan to Lena, Eliza and Cisco and they agreed to her plan. Against the doctor’s wishes they disconnected all machine’s connected to Alex and Lena started to provide manual breathing for Alex. Cisco opened a portal and not even a minute later Alex was in the healing chamber. For the last year Kara had been studying the chamber and programming emergency protocols. She started protocol Alex911 and soon the chamber came to life, scanning Alex’s injuries and taking over life support. The machine started the healing function and in addition also began converting Alex to a Kryptonian. The machine was good with healing Kryptonian’s, but the human body had much lower limit’s then them and she would need every healing boost available. The chamber flooded with bright lights providing yellow sun radiation to immediately help with the healing._

_Later that afternoon the machine was still working on Alex and Aunt Astra arrived at the fortress to offer her support while also bringing Lucy with her. The next day, nearly 24 hours had passed, and the machine had just finished the procedure’s to heal Alex. As soon as it was finished Kara placed an red sun bracelet on her sister. Everyone started at 0% when they exited the room, but Alex was fully charged and wouldn’t be able to cope with the sudden influx of powers._

_Slowly Alex had woken up and she had no idea what had happened and where she was. It took some explaining before Alex could comprehend the situation and she wasn’t mad that this was the solution. She would have accepted Kara’s offer when she would have given it to her at Christmas. They had spent several days in Midvale after that to get Alex to control her powers, which had taken a longer time then with Eliza, but she had gotten them in control. A few days after that Alex had announced she was going to non-active status at the DEO and would only work there when needed. She was happy with her new job at L-Corp, working with Kara at the private lab and working on saving the planet._

 

Kara twitched and fell out of the bad memory. “Aunt Astra? Is Krypto still at the house?” Kara asked after a few minutes of silence.

 

“He is. You trained him well little one. Kryptonian dogs might be loyal to their owners by genetics, but you trained this one especially well. Barry hasn’t even tried to approach the food truck anymore.”

 

“Well, that’s the way it should be.” Kara said with a small smile, remembering earlier that morning. “Krypto didn’t even really burn Barry’s clothes that much. Barry should have known to never come between an Kryptonian, her dog or her food.”

 

Astra chuckled at her niece’s antics. “He should have indeed.”

 

_Krypto was three months old now and was a real Kryptonian dog. After growing and testing several plants, they decided it was time to get a dog. Their new home was almost finished and by the time Krypto would be there, they would have moved and there would be miles of ground for Krypto to entertain himself with._

_Like with Streaky, they had kept the dog at the lab for a week to test his powers. Only a few hours of yellow sun exposure already confirmed that Krypto had powers. She had done more testing and training and by the time the week was over, Krypto was fully trained and obedient. One of the traits of Kryptonian dogs was their mind. They are nearly as smart as the average human. Next to that, Krypto had most powers Kara had. Flight, healing, indestructibility, freeze breath, heat vision, strength were all there._

 

Kara thought back to the spring of this year when she and Lena had moved into their new home.

 

_They had been involved in the design and building of their house every step of the way, to make sure it was to their exact specifications. While for the outside world it looked like a normal human home, inside it was not. For their security, privacy and comfort Kara had gone above and beyond. The house had a newly build Kelex robot that monitored everything for them while at the same time maintained the house. integrated into the home were small Kryptonian sensor to monitor their property and the information was fed into the Kelex robot. Nobody would be able to approach the home, unless they were given access first._

_It was an extremely high tech home, but it also radiated warmth. Lena had experienced enough cold homes for a five thousand year lifetime and one of her only demands was that the new home would feel like a true home. Kara couldn’t have agreed more._

_Kara had built a greenery close to the house for her Kryptonian plants. Most were for viewing pleasure, but some of them were a food source for the steadily growing Kryptonian family. These plants were extremely rich in nutritional value which meant that they could now buy normal amount of human food and add a bar, made of those Kryptonian plants, to have all the calories they needed for that day causing them to save several hundreds of dollars in food costs per week._

“There you are!” Kara heard from behind her and Astra smirked at her niece. Clearly she had heard the voice arriving while Kara was lost in her memories.

 

Kara turned around and saw her fiancée and sister hovering behind her. Lena had managed to overcome some of her fear of heights and could now fly when she made sure to keep within ten meters of the ground.

 

“You’re not getting cold feet are you?” Alex said with fondness while chuckling. “I’m the maid of honor and I order you to not get cold feet!”

 

Kara blushed and shook her head. “No Alex, I’m not getting cold feet. I was going crazy with all the people running around on the island and needed some quiet time.”

 

“I can understand that.” Lena said as she landed and kissed her for now fiancée. “It took all of my Luthor stubbornness to not flee as well.”

 

Everyone chuckled, but no one made a move to leave. Instead, two more seats were folded open and everyone sat down to soak in the silence while they could. Lena kissed her fiancée once more, bringing back memories of two weeks earlier

 

_Since they were people that were often recognized in public, the bachelorette party would be held on earth 1. Kara had asked Alex as her maid of honor, while Lena had done the same with Sam. Both Sam and Eve were well aware who Kara was and had signed Kara’s NDA agreement. They left the bachelorette party planning to Alex and Sam, with only a few requests. First that It would be held on earth 1 since they can let loose there, 2 nd that it would be a joined party and third that the earth 1 crew would be invited as a superhero curtesy. _

_Alex and Sam had been busy planning the party and had traveled several times to Earth 1 to scout locations with some of the people there. Because of the tip felicity had given, Alex and Sam had decided to use Oliver’s new yacht for the party. It was hardly ever used an had plenty of room for a kick ass party._

_It was that weekend two weeks ago that the party had taken place. It had been epic. They had rented a private party dock several kilometers from any neighbors and had docked the yacht there. In total the party had lasted well over 24 hours._

_Saturday morning at noon Cisco had vibed the fiancée’s straight in the party area. The maid of honors had invited all of earth 1 superhero teams. Team Arrow, Team Flash, Team Legends and from earth 38 Lucy, Jess, Eve, Winn, J’onn, Eliza, Astra, Clark and Lois. With so many overpowered people there, there were several large barbecue’s and rows of meat, salads and everything else that can be used at a barbecue party. The afternoon was spend with music and games. As more normal alcohol, human safe alien alcohol and human deadly alcohol was consumed, the dirtier the games had gotten. A particular brutal game of Truth and Dare had gotten a bit out of hand that when Lena had to let everyone know that Kara liked to be tied down. Alex and Kara had remained red for half an hour, wishing that there was Kryptonian brain bleach while all the other girls had found it hilarious, especially Lucy, Lois and Sam._

_That evening the party had been nothing short of epic. The main party had moved towards the boat and hours of dancing, eating and drinking resulted in a party lasting well into the night. Kara and Lena had managed to sneak of for half an hour when everyone was dancing, releasing some build up tension. Kara had been in no way immune to a grinding and seductive looking Lena, wearing fairly revealing clothing and knowing exactly what she was doing. When they returned Lucy and Sara gave both of them a smirk, knowing exactly what had happened._

_Later that evening Kara was dancing with Alex when Lena and Sara found themselves by the snacks table. Kara saw Lena and Sara standing fairly close together, talking softly but she couldn’t eavesdrop due to her red sun bracelet. Whatever it was, Lena and Sara seemed to like it. It wasn’t till later that evening when Lena told her that Sara had proposed another revival of Kara’s Christmas present, but this time with Sara’s girlfriend Ava added. Kara nodded approvingly and Lena informed her that they had set a tentative date for these plans sometime after the wedding and their honeymoon, causing Kara to whisk her away again._

_The bachelorette party had been a great success and all around the party area lay people sleeping well into the morning. After everyone woke up, trying to get rid of their hangovers, the party came to an end. Kara and Barry had ran to Central City going to multiple Big Belly Burgers to get a greasy good bye gift for everyone. A breakfast later everyone said goodbye to each other and that they would see each other again in two weeks for the wedding._

 

Fifteen minutes of quiet later Kara, Lena, Alex and Astra knew their time was up and that they needed to go back to manage the wedding. They lifted up as a group and soon were back to the island that was still looking more like New York City then a secluded private island.

 

 

The next evening was the evening Kara and Lena had been waiting months for. All the guests were seated on chairs on the beach. Team Flash, Team Arrow, Team Legends, J’onn, Eliza, Astra, Eve, Lois, Clark and Cat Grant were all there. Cat had practically invited herself to the wedding and she had made it known to Kara that that shapeshifting stunt a few years earlier hadn’t fooled her.   

 

Kara and Lena had decided to do a mixed human and Kryptonian wedding. Kara wanted to keep some of her culture, even though she was on earth now and Lena understood that completely.

 

At exactly the moment sunset began a loud bell sounded and the guests stood up, waiting for the couple. Alex and Sam as maid of honors were standing one step below the top of the stage, with next to them Lucy and Jess as bridesmaids, both one step lower. The stage was made of a white marble and had two steps to reach the top. On top of the stage was a large bow, crossing from left to right and about nine feet tall. It was decorated with Kryptonian flowers, who were all in bloom. Straight in the middle of the stage and below the center of the bow was hanging a large glass ornament that looked like a large tear. It was a replica of the Jewel of Truth and Honor.

 

A few seconds after the bell went silent, Lena flew in from the right side of the island wearing an human wedding dress. Lena was wearing a white, sleeveless dress with a deep cleavage and a small trail behind. The top part of the dress was made out of lace and highlighted with the new Luthor coat of arms that Lena had designed. The bottom was a stylish, sleek, made out of satin and hugged Lena’s curves perfectly. She was radiating happiness as soon as she had landed at the right side of the jewel. She smiled to the guests and then looked at the left side of the island.

 

Kara came flying in slowly from the left side of the island and gently landed on the stage on the left side of the jewel. She was wearing a formal Kryptonian wedding gown, embroiled with the House of El coat of arms. The gown was completely white, with a tail of several feet and covered everything from the neck down. It had a hard collar that stood up and sleeves that went to the wrist.

 

Kara smiled to the guests as well and gave a larger smile to Lucy and Alex, who were standing just a few feet away.

 

On Krypton it was tradition that the ceremony would be performed by a Kryptonian elder. But since they had all perished Kara and Lena had decided that Astra would officiate the wedding. She was the eldest Kryptonian now.

 

Astra stood at the center of the stage, just behind the jewel and looked at both woman, who smiled to each other and then to Astra.

 

Astra started the ceremony with a red sunset at the background.

 

“Good evening valued friends and family of Kara and Lena. Welcome to the most important moment in the lives of this couple. We invite you to leave behind the worries and concerns of every day ‘superhero’ life and join us in the celebration of this bonding.”

 

“The brides have chosen this setting in which to be bonded because it provides an appropriate backdrop for their love. It is now exactly two years since Lena proposed to Kara at this exact same spot.”

 

“The brides view bonding as a coming together at all levels of being – mind, body, and spirit. A bonding commitment includes the willingness to be open and vulnerable, and the courage to take risks. To be successfully bonded we must continually renew our will to be together and love one other. Partners accept the challenges that living together in love offer. They decide that they will face the fears that are a necessary part of establishing and nurturing an relationship that can last over several millennia. As long as they are together, they will be stronger and can overcome those fears and obstacles. And you, the brides have made the commitment to create and recreate this conscious partnership.”

 

“Bonding consists of entrusting our deepest selves into the loving care of another. It is a public and legal act to be sure. It is also an emotional and spiritual act. The bonding can’t be undone and will connect the both of you from now till eternity.”

 

“The brides commit themselves today to each other in sacred trust. They promise to embrace conflict as well as peace; to work as well as play; to struggle as well as coast; to give as well as receive; and to be with, stay with, and move toward one another.”

 

“I will now give word to Lena, who has prepared her own personal vows for this joyous moment.”

 

Lena took a deep breath and reached out the hold Kara’s hands. They held one other and their hands connect exactly under the Jewel of Truth and Honor.

 

“My dear beloved. I can’t put into words how happy I am that this day has arrived. Today we will be bonded and walk through life as one. Faith has brought us together. Me, an Irish kid that was adopted by a hateful family on the other side of the world and you, a woman from a planet hundreds of light years away, that has been frozen on time for 24 years and of all planets and cities you could end up, we managed to find each other in National City. Two people who were supposed to be enemies, yet here we are. We are getting bonded for eternity, which for us could easily be millennia. You have given my life light, you make me happier then I have ever been or will be. I will vow to you that I will love, support, cherish and hold you from now till forever. May Rao’s countenance shine upon us for eternity. El Marayah.”

 

When Lena finished her vows there wasn’t a single eye on the beach that was dry. Even Oliver was pinking away a tear. Kara had received a small handkerchief from Alex to dry her eyes with. Once she was done drying her eyes she held Lena’s hands again.

 

“I will now give word to Kara, who has prepared her own personal vows for this moment as well.”

 

“My love.” Kara started with. “I never thought that I would have this day. With Krypton gone I thought I would walk alone in Rao’s light into the future. Then I met you. The moment I laid eyes on you when we first met in your office I was already in love. We clicked immediately and it took only a few months before we started dating. I decided to muster all the courage I had to ask you out and I have not regretted it once. You make me more happy then I ever thought I could be. Exactly nine months after our first date, you mustered all your courage and asked me to marry you. Now on this day, exactly two years since that day we will be bonded together for eternity. So, my dear Lena, I vow to you I will love and support you into the future. I will walk hand in hand with you into the unknown and support you any way I can. My love, I have a feeling we have a bright and happy future awaiting us. May Rao’s countenance shine upon us for eternity. El Marayah.”

 

Everyone was drying their eyes again and Lena also needed a handkerchief, which she got from Sam.    

 

After a few moments Astra continued the ceremony. “In the name of truth and honor I declare the marriage vows binding upon you. From this day forward, throughout all time and space, into eternity.”

 

Astra gave a small whistle and slowly Krypto comes walking through the center aisle with a cushion on his back. He is carrying two Kryptonian bonding bracelets, custom designed by Kara and Lena, with help from Astra.

 

Krypto hovers onto the stage, skipping all the steps and stops in front Astra, who takes the bracelets and gives the command that Krypto can go back. Astra continues the ceremony and says to the guests. “Instead of rings, Kryptonian’s symbolize their bonding with bracelets. Each pair is unique and is not allowed to be replicated. Kara you may start.” 

 

“I, Kara Zor-El, give you this bonding bracelet to symbolize our commitment to each other. May Rao’s countenance shine upon us for eternity.”

 

Kara opens the bracelet and gently places it around Lena’s wrist. The moment the bracelet is put on, it is located directly under the Jewel, just like the Kryptonian tradition tells to. Their band is made of Nth metal and has a green and red streak within the metal. Green for the House of Luthor and red for the House of El. Along the band were several small gems inlayed within the metal and those were based on their eye colors, just like the ring Lena had gifted for their engagement. On the inside of the band was the House of El coat of arms engraved together with the new House of Luthor coat of arms, along with their wedding date.

 

‘Lena, now it is your turn.” Astra said.

 

“I, Lena Luthor, give you this bonding bracelet to symbolize our commitment to each other. May Rao’s countenance shine upon us for eternity.”

 

Lena also gently places the bracelet on Kara’s wrist and Kara smiles at Lena as they look into each other’s eyes.

 

“Made wife and wife this day–and for all days hence. May the countenance of Rao ever shine on you. You may now kiss your bonded.”

 

Both Kara and Lena take a step forward and their first kiss as a bonded couple is under the Jewel of Truth and Honor. When they stopped kissing, they looked into each other’s eyes and grinned at one other.

 

“I love you Lena Zor-El - Danvers - Luthor.” Kara murmured to her bonded.

 

“I love you Kara Zor-El - Danvers - Luthor.” Lena said softly to her wife.


End file.
